A Flare in the Night
by Kaotic-Cass
Summary: A Pokémon X/Y FanFiction. Follows the story line for the most part (I have a little fun with it in places), also the characters are older than in the games because there will be mature content as the story progresses. I do not own Pokémon or any of their copyrighted characters. I do however own Allona, my main character OC.
1. Chapter 1 - My Journey Begins

Chapter 1 - My Journey Begins

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon. I am Augustine Sycamore, the Kalos region's very own Pokémon Professor. This world of ours is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon! These mysterious creatures can be found in every corner of our world… Some run across the plains, others fly through the skies, and others yet swim deep in the oceans… We live together with these Pokémon, lending out strength to one another to live and prosper. You are about to enter the beautiful Kalos Region! Go and meet many Pokémon and people, and fill your life with rich experiences! Now let's go visit the world of Pokémon!"

Vaniville Town is a small quaint little town. One route leading both in and out of it. The place never got much news recognition nor was in need of it. Everyone in the town knew each other intimately, always helping each other out. My family had just moved to this region and chose this town to settle down in. I was a little disappointed moving here, having come from so far away, from such a famous town. Pallet town, where the infamous Red hailed from. But the more I thought about my move, I realized that this was a town of beginnings. I would put Vaniville town on the map. And tomorrow was the day that all the children that had come of age venture off on their own journey. Weather the child had been lucky enough to be chosen by the professor, to receive a Pokémon from their parents, or just set out on their own to create their journey completely from scratch. I was lucky enough to be chosen by the professor.

Waiting for the tomorrow that had been promised for years was such a dreadful experience. Sitting in my room I stared out the window for what seemed like hours, millions of thoughts raced through my mind. Which Pokémon would I choose to be my first? I've always been told I have a fire-y personality, so Fire would be a good choice for me. But if I chose to go with water we could be an unstoppable team, be each other's weaknesses. Of course the same would go for grass. I heard mother call upstairs to me to go to bed, since I had to wake up early in the morning.

I lay down upon my bed with the lights turned off, my gaze now upon the ceiling. It was dark in my room, but I could still faintly see around me thanks to the moonlight that shown through my window. How could I sleep with my mind racing like it had been? I was too excited to sleep. I figured once I heard my mom go to bed in her room below my own I'd sneak out of bed again and find something to keep myself occupied until morning. However it seemed like my mother knew of my plan. She was able to outlast me. It wasn't long before I passed from the conscious world into the one of a dream land.

With a loud crash and sharp pain I awoke with a start. Sitting up in my bed, startled, I saw a Fletchling sitting in front of me chirping. My eyes shot to the window across from my bed and saw that it was light outside. Jumping out of bed I ran to my closet and dug out some clothes to wear. The Fletchling stood on my bed watching me as I changed out of my pajamas. As I was pulling my shirt on, my last article of clothing to put on, I noticed the eyes of the Fletchling staring at me. I shook my head and shrugged off the piercing black eyes of the little bird and grabbed my bag I had packed and ran downstairs.

At the bottom of the stairs I stopped and looked at my dear mother. She looked at me and smiled sweetly. "Morning, Allona! You sure slept well! All rested up from the move? It's about time you got going! Why don't you step out and say hello to the neighbors?" She said in a sing-song like voice. I laughed and nodded as I turned to the door.

Leaving my house, for what would be a long time before my return, I was met by two of the neighbors, Calem and Shauna. Calem was a strong young boy with medium black hair partially covered by a red hat. He was tall wearing mostly blue, he had a shoulder bag resting on his left shoulder. He was definitely a quite person, stern and fierce, I could see a passion in his eyes. Shauna on the other hand was a little shorter and had a bubbly personality. She had her hair up in two pig-tail like things, she wore a lot of pink with incredibly short jean-shorts and sandals. She too had a shoulder bag draped across her shoulder.

"Welcome to Vaniville Town! My name's Calem. I'm your neighbor." Calem said calmly. His voice was deep and for some reason soothing. He had a gentle smile as his hand firmly grasped the strap of his shoulder bag.

"And I'm Shauna! Great to meet you! Guess what! We've come to get you!" Shauna added, and rather loudly at that. She was definitely loud and bubbly, but I had to admit that she seemed nice, and was kind of cute. Granted I could have figured out why they were here without it being announced. This was the day that I had been planning for so long.

"The esteemed Professor Sycamore lives here in the Kalos region. I was told he has a request for five kids, including us. But I'm a little surprised he knows who you are. You did just move to Vaniville, after all." Calem continued, I could see the gleam in his eye that showed how much he admired the professor. I could see right away that he was smart, so I decided to let the back handed compliment slide, considering I was just as surprised as he was.

"We'll wait for you in the next town over! And you know what?! We're going to get… a Pokémon! C'mon! Hurry! Let's go!" Shauna squealed as she ran off towards the gates that lead to Route One which would take us to Aquacorde Town where we would start our journey. Calem sighed, making brief eye contact with me as he followed after Shauna.

I sighed and took a final look around my yard and walked over to my mother's pet Rhyhorn. It looked over at me and nuzzled its head against my side until I hugged it back. Patting its head I muttered my good-byes and promised to bring back some Ouran berries when I come back home, his favorite. The Rhyhorn let out a cheerful utterance saying good-bye and returned to its bed. I spun on my heel and walked through the gates of my yard, turning a couple corners and walking out of the town, I heard the people around the town carrying on about their daily lives as I left them without a sound.

Route One is a quiet quaint little walk way that leads to Aquacorde Town, not even a mile long. There were pretty ferns on either side of the route, it was a pretty area and with the sun shining the way it was it almost called out the adventurer to skip along. I giggled to myself at the thought.

Entering Aquacorde Town I timidly stepped forward and looked around. It was a bigger town than Vaniville or Pallet. Tall buildings stood on either side of me as I walked down the main street, my eyes darting back and forth. After passing by a few large buildings I saw a patio like area with a bunch of tables and chairs around in a spacious area on each side.

"Hey, Allona! This way! Over here! We were just talking about you!" I heard Shauna shout out at me, I looked over to my left and saw her sitting at a large table with Calem and two other guys I didn't recognize. I walked over to them as Shauna added, "C'mon, have a seat."

I sat down next to Calem and across from a small young red-headed man with a green backpack resting snuggly on his back. Calem had his hands crossed in his lap and sat very stiffly. I leaned back in my seat as Calem began to speak, "This is the meeting place, Allona. Here let me introduce you. Everyone, this is Allona."

There was a heavy set man sitting across from Calem, he wore a black shirt and a hat that made me wonder about his intelligence. He had bright eyes and a large smile that seemed to match his girth. "Wow…" he started, "Shauna's description was spot on!"

It almost seemed like it pained Calem to say this, but he continued on anyway, "So, Allona, this is Tierno. He's got some serious dance moves, and…" he paused motioning towards the quiet little ginger boy sitting across from me, "this is Trevor he never misses a single question on tests, but he's a little shy." The ginger, Trevor blushed a little at the statement and looked away from the group momentarily.

Tierno seemed to bounce in his seat as he spoke, "Alright nice to meet cha. You know, I'd feel like we're a closer crew if we call each other by nicknames. Can I call you A-Meister?" His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"What?! No way!" Shauna interrupted. "She's a Li'l A, for sure! What do you think, Trevor?" She asked leaning over the table looking at Trevor fiercely.

Trever looked up at Shauna, almost startled, his eyes were wide, it looked like he was terrified. "What?! You want me to nicknames someone I just met?! Shauna, you shouldn't put people on the spot like this." He scolded, and then, after a moment, "Well… How about something low key? Maybe… something like A-kins…"

Calem smiled, as though he knew what I was thinking at the moment. "Why don't you decide what we should call you?" He asked kindly, turning towards me. He had a heavenly smile on his face. I looked around for a moment and decided that A-kins was probably the best suited nickname. At least the one I wouldn't mind being called frequently. It didn't hurt that I found Trevor a little bit cute, and he was the one who chose that name.

"You want us to call you A-kins?" Shauna asked sitting back down in her seat. I nodded simply. "OK! A-kins fits you perfectly!" Shauna was squirming in her seat, "I'm sure we're gonna be great friends, so I'll call you that too!" Suddenly, she had a quick change of thought, jumping and spinning around. "Hey! Can we see the Pokémon now? I want to meet my new partner soon!"

Tierno laughed at her eagerness. "I know, right? It was such a cool feeling when Trevs and I met our Pokémon! Hope you feel same way we did!" Leaning over, Tierno grabbed a suit case that sat next to his seat between him and Shauna and set it on the table facing Shauna, Calem and I. He opened it to reveal three Poké Balls with the labels "Fenniken", "Froakie", and "Chespin" in front of each respectively.

Everyone looked at me expectantly, indicating that I was going to the first to get my Pokémon. I timidly leaned forward and looked at the three shining Poké Balls sitting there, thinking about what had been on my mind all night long. I sighed and reached out. I feel that I had always known which one I'd pick, I grabbed the Poké Ball with the label of Fenniken. I was going to be the greatest with this little fire fox Pokémon.

Shauna was practically jumping out of her seat with excitement. "Would you like to give your Pokémon a nickname?" I shook my head a little timidly. This little Fenniken didn't need a nickname to prove its worth to the world. Shauna seemed to ignore my response anyway and continued to talk, "OK!" she shouted, "My partner is Chespin! Wow! We go together great! The two of us are just way-ay-ay too cute!" I giggled to myself at her hugging her Poké Ball.

Calem calmly reached out a hand and took the last Poké Ball, "Nice to meet you Froakie. I'm Calem. Because of you I can be a real Pokémon Trainer. Thank you!" He said as he smiled down at the Poké Ball in his hand.

"Uh, pardon me," Trevor spoke up timidly, raising his hand as though to get attention, I could see his hand shaking. "But I have something for you from the Professor as well. I have something that will help you understand Pokémon on a much deeper level." He reached into his backpack and got three electronic devices and handed one to Shauna, Calem and I. We all took ours and looked at it. It was a PokéDex. Scrolling through the apps and information on it, it had my Trainer information and a bunch of blank pages for me to fill up with notes on Pokémon. I was so excited to get to learn more about every Pokémon I could.

"Um, so you see…" Trevor continued to explain, "The PokéDex I just gave you is a high-tech device that automatically records the Pokémon you encounter! The reason you get one is because the professor wants us to go on a journey with our Pokémon and complete the PokéDex. To put it another way, it's an important mission from the professor. I'm sure of it!" I could see the glimmer in his eyes, he was a smart and passionate man, I could see his intelligence. I smiled to myself.

"Oh lighten up Trevs! You're way too serious sometimes." Tierno said in his loud boisterous voice. I found myself mentally scolding him for his personality, but I put the thought out of my mind since he continued talking. "Um, Allona… Please take this with you, too. It's a letter from the professor. He said to give it to your mom." He slid a letter across the table to me, I caught it and looked back up at him a little puzzled.

"Alright! We're done with our errand for the professor. I guess Trevs and I will go look for Pokémon." Tierno said as he jumped up and practically dragged Trevor away with him. I felt a little disappointment as I watched them walk away. Disappointment and pity. Trevor didn't look like he wanted to be dragged along quite yet, but was too timid to say anything.

I was a little disheartened, having to return home so soon, but oh well. Before I stood up I looked over at the two sitting next to me. Both smiling happily. "In Kalos, kids are chosen to carry a PokéDex and go on an adventure. But you need to give that letter to your mom before you go." Calem stated rather matter-of-factly. I groaned to myself and stood up walking away from the two and began walking towards Route One again. As I turned the corner around the building I got curious and decided to peak at the letter.

Getting only a few lines into it I was disgusted. From the sounds of it my mother and Professor Sycamore had been in contact for some time. And it was clear that it was more than just a friendship going on between them. Was that why I was chosen after just moving to Kalos? Was this why we moved to Kalos? I didn't want to know anymore, so I resealed the letter and continue to walking.

"Allona, wait!" I heard Shauna's voice from behind me. I spun on my heel and looked at them. "You're gonna be my opponent in my Pokémon-battling debut!" She detached her Poké Ball from her belt and threw it into the air, a bright flash of light shown and Chespin appeared in between us and let out an adorable battle cry.

Chespin is a small spiny nut Pokémon, brown and green in color. I smiled to myself and threw my own Poké Ball into the air revealing my Fenniken, which is a small yellow and orange fox Pokémon with large eyes. Shauna motioned with her hand to motion me to attack first. I instinctively ordered my Fenniken to use scratch, landing a direct hit. Chespin responded with a tackle attack, knocking my Fenniken back to the ground. Fenniken grunted and wobbly stood back up on its four paws. I commanded Fenniken to repeat its attack. Chespin wavered and fell to the ground. The battle was over.

Shauna stomped her feet and threw her fists down in a fit. "Hey! I wasn't done watching my cute Li'l Chespin yet!" Shauna whined. "You're amazing, Allona!" She paused and thought about what had transpired. "Here! Let me fix up your Pokémon." The both of us recalled our Pokémon and Shauna dragged me to a little shop down the stairs and by the water. The nice lady in the shop healed our Pokémon with machines and the two of us thanked her and left.

Walking back towards the entrance to Aquacorde Town Shauna turned to leave my side with a parting "Say hi to your mom for me!" She disappeared around the corner and I continued walking. It had finally happened. I had my own Pokémon.

When I got home mom was standing in the kitchen just like when I had left. At the sound of the door opening she turned around and looked at me, smiling brightly. "So! What did you and the neighbor kid's end up doing?" I just assumed that she had forgotten how important today was and was just playing it off. Considering she looked shocked when she saw the Poké Ball that was attached at my belt. "Wait one second, Allona! Is that a Poké Ball you have there? You got your very own Pokémon? Lucky you! How about that? You're a Pokémon Trainer now, too! Congratulations!"

Before she went even farther in her speech I held out the tainted letter for her, avoiding eye contact. She took it and began to look it over. "Huh? A letter for me? It says it's from somebody named Sycamore. What could it be? A love letter?" She joked as she opened the letter and began to read it. "Wow, what lovely handwriting…" She muttered. "Hmm? What do we have here? A request… Oh, I see. Allona! We've barely unpacked, and all kinds of exciting things are happening! OK! Let's get you and your Pokémon ready for your journey!"

Mom skipped up to my room and I could hear her moving things around and throwing some things. It bothered me a little bit that she was in my room going through my things, but I guess it wasn't so bad since I was going to be leaving the house, what did it really matter? She came back downstairs after a few minutes with a small bag of things.

"Here you are, Allona. I even packed a change of clothes. My, what an unexpected turn of events!" I wanted to correct my mom, since I knew that she had to have been aware of this day coming but I ignored it and let her keep on talking. "It's just like a sudden last burst of speed from a racer in a Rhyhorn race! You made friends! You met your Pokémon! And now you get to take a lap around Kalos! Oh, and don't forget this!" She handed me a map of the Kalos region. "You know how to use a Town Map, right?" As if I didn't know how to use one, I wasn't stupid. "I don't know what this Professor Sycamore wants you to see on your trip… But taking a journey with your Pokémon is a really wonderful experience."

After she finally ended her long-winded speech I groaned and turned on my heel, leaving the house once again. Hopefully for the last time this time. When I walked out, my mom's Rhyhorn ran up to me to send me off once again. This poor thing had always been protective over me and I knew that it was sad to see me go. But before I could leave the yard my mom came outside and started talking to me some more.

"Ha ha ha! What a card!" She laughed referring to her Rhyhorn. "I guess Rhyhorn just wanted to give you a big send-off for your journey! Well, it has known you since you were born, after all! Good luck, Allona! Go for broke! And don't worry! You'll have Pokémon by your side, so you'll be fine!"

I nodded, waved and left the yard. At the gates of Vaniville Town I stopped to see what mom had put in the bag for me. There was a change of clothes, a couple potion sprays, five extra Poké Balls, the map of the Kalos region and some money. I counted it, $3500 to be exact. I sorted everything into my own bag, including the fabric bag she had handed the stuff to me in.

I left on Route One once again to finally start my journey.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Pidgey of a Problem

Chapter 2 - A Pidgey of a Problem

I walked through Route One and entered Aquacorde Town again, I watched the townspeople going about their business rushing around. I sat down at one of the tables outside a restaurant and organized my pack so things sat in there neater.

I also pulled my new PokéDex out of my bags side pocket and began to flip through the information areas of its database. I filled out my information in the Trainer area, it asked for all the basic information; my name, age, sexuality, number of badges, an item inventory and so forth. It also asked for the location for my captured Pokémon to be transported when I capture more than six. I sat there thinking about the question for some time. I could send them home to mom, but she really didn't have the room to take care of them. After a lot of consideration I decided that Professor Sycamore's lab just outside of Lumiose City was probably the best place to send them. The information was transmitted to Professor Sycamore's database.

I submitted the information and started to look at the Pokémon information section. Whenever I captured a Pokémon, like my little Fennekin, a summary of the Pokémon was downloaded to my browser. There was a section below each Pokémon for me to input specifics that I learned about each Pokémon as I traveled. I smiled to myself ecstatically. I was going to be helping add to the wealth of knowledge about Pokémon. Maybe one day I would write a paper on Pokémon I giggled to myself at the thought.

Standing up and slinging my bag over my shoulder I tucked my PokéDex in my jeans pocket and walked down the stairway leading to the lower part of Aquacorde. A market worker stopped me to offer me a sample of his shops wares, a potion. I smiled and thanked him as I headed towards the exit gate of the town. There was a bridge leading out of town. I stopped and leaned over the edge, taking in the gentle breeze that lifted the watery sent thorugh the air.

Shaking off some of my excitement I continued onto Route 2, wading through a patch of tall grass that came up to my hip. Looking up I could see there were several patches like this. Coming out at the other end of the tall grass I saw Shauna and Calem standing between me and another patch of grass a little taller than the last. I couldn't see the end of the grassy area, but I could guess that it was a longer patch than the last one I had just waded through.

Shauna, looking over her shoulder, noticed me and called me over to talk some more. "Oh! Hi, Allona!" She called as I walked over to stand beside them. "Come learn how to catch Pokémon with me! Calem's mom and dad are amazing Trainers! That's why he knows so much about catching Pokémon and battling." My interest peaked at the thought. If he's such a talented trainer, I couldn't wait to battle him. I could feel the smile creeping onto my face.

"Well…" Calem started a little uncomfortably, "Mom and Dad may be good, but that has nothing to do with me." I was a little disheartened, but my smile never faded. "OK, now watch carefully, you two." He ordered.

Calem walked a few steps into the tall grass and was nocked aback by a Bunnelby. Calem stammered to his feet attempting to make it look as though nothing embarrassing had happened, and quickly threw a Poké Ball. His Froakie appeared between him and the Bunnelby and he commanded it to attack using Pound. Bunnelby fell down and looked up menacingly at Froakie, using Leer. Seeing that one attack was sufficient enough to make the Bunnelby really weak Calem took out an unused Poké Ball and threw it at the Bunnelby hitting it on the head. The Bunnelby disappeared in a flash into the Poké Ball, it dropped to the floor, shook a few times, and calmed. Calem picked it up, chuckling to himself in pride.

"Wow!" Shauna exclaimed, "The Pokémon went INSIDE the Poké Ball?!" Her arms were spread and mouth agape in astonishment.

Calem came back out from the tall grass and gave Shauna an exasperated look. "Shauna…" He said, "What do you think your Fennekin is inside of right now?" Rolling his eyes he reached into this backpack and pulled ten Poké Balls out, handing five to each of us. I assumed he had extra since he was doing this. "Here, I'll share some Poké Balls with the two of you."

"Poké Balls! Do you think I can catch Pokémon with them, too?" Shauna asked excitedly. I laughed at her enthusiasm. She was twirling on one of her feet.

Calem smiled and answered her, "Sure. You can catch the Pokémon around here just by throwing a Poké Ball near them." Not quite the way I would have put it, but alright.

"OK, if I find cute Pokémon, I'll throw lots of Poké Balls at it, and then we'll become friends!" At this point I wanted to speak out and say how only looking for cute Pokémon will never get her anywhere, and throwing lots of Poké Balls would just be a waste if she wasn't careful, but I knew her heart was in the right place so I kept my mouth shut.

"When you catch a wild Pokémon, it makes your Pokémon stronger, too. Good luck." Calem smiled and waved a hand at me as him and Shauna ran off down Route 2. I waved gingerly as I watched the two of them running off, Shauna was practically skipping while Calem had a determined way about how he ran.

I took a deep breath and walked into the tall grass after them. I could see over the grass, but I decided that I probably wouldn't find Pokémon looking on ahead at the route, at least not as easily as Calem had, so I got down on all fours and crawled through the grass parting the grass in front of me and crawling forth. My strange method paid off. I found a small little Caterpie in front of me.

Inching forward I pulled Fennekin's Poké Ball off of my belt and called it out, as quietly as I could and pointed to the Caterpie to demand an attack. Fennekin leapt forward and scratched the Caterpie. Caterpie rolled backward and looked up at me and Fennekin with its large frightened eyes. It tugged at my heart, closing my eyes, I threw an empty Poké Ball at the weakened little thing and watched at it wiggled back and forth with its red light flashing. It stilled and I reached out and grabbed it.

Before I knew it there were sharp talons on my hand that was outstretched holding the Poké Ball. I cried out in pain. Opening my eyes I saw a Pidgey attempting to pry the Poké Ball out of my hands. Before I even commanded her, my Fennekin dove and knocked the Pidgey off of my hand.

I sat up and took my wounded hand, still holding the Poké Ball, in my other hand, clutching it tightly trying to make the pain go away. It wasn't working, but I was concentrating on my Fennekin viciously attacking my attacker. I jumped up and grabbed Fennekins' Poké Ball with the hand not holding my new Caterpie and recalled it, attaching both Pokémon to my belt. Rushing forward I looked the Pidgey up and down, it was pretty badly hurt. I knew I had to help it.

Taking the wounded Pidgey in my arms I raced back over the bridge and rushed into the house with the lady who tended Pokémon. Running up to the counter I laid the Pidgey down and pleaded for help. Luckily the lady was still on duty and took the poor thing into the back room to do what she could to help it. It was an hour before the treatment was done and it was in recovery. A very long, worrisome hour. The lady came out from the back room and told me the Pidgey was going to be fine, but scolded me for letting something like that happened. I tried to explain what had really transpired, but she wouldn't listen. She told me that I would have to stay there for the night while the Pidgey recovered. I was fine with that, since it was already six o'clock.

I sighed and was lead into a guest waiting room. It was a small room with several tables and chairs spread around. There was one couch were I could rest later on tonight. The nurse lady left the room and I was alone. Walking over to the couch I laid claim to the spot I would call my bed and took some bandages out of my shoulder bag I had packed the night before and began to wrap up my hand.

When I finished with that, I called both my Fennekin and Caterpie out of their Poké Balls. I had only gotten Fennekin today and it was already willing to leap into battle to protect me. I felt a little bit of pride as Fennekin rubbed its head against my leg. Petting its head I told it that what it had done, though the right thing, was a little bit overdone. Lowering its head in shame I got down on my knees and comforted it, I wasn't mad, heck I was smiling like a well feed Snorlax.

Turning to Caterpie, who still looked a little bit afraid of m; I held out my bandaged hand gingerly and let it sniff me. It was going to be a little while before Caterpie warmed up to me, but I explained to it why I had done what I had done and explained that if I hadn't done that, it may have been taken prey by a Pidgey in the other room. That seemed to convince it enough to crawl on my hand and make itself comfortable. I noticed that it kept a close eye on me, but I didn't mind.

Figuring this was as good a time as any to log these two into my PokéDex, I pulled it out and scanned my Fennekin first. Its level, stats and moves appeared on the screen while the device's robotic voice detailed a summary to me: _Eating a twig fills it with energy, and its roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 390 degrees Fahrenheit. As it walks, it muches on a twig in place of a snack. It intimidates opponents by puffing hot air out of its ears._ I giggled as I pictured this little thing with hot air blowing out of its ears. Turning to the little Caterpie in my hand I set it on the ground and repeated the process. The little robotic voice booted up again: _For protection, it releases a horrible stench from the antennae on its head to drive away enemies. Its feet have suction cups designed to stick to any surface. It tenaciously climbs trees to forage._

I spent a few hours trying to get to know my Pokémon a little better, they were both playful and eventually wore themselves out, so I recalled them into their Poké Balls. I was shocked when I looked up at the clock to see that it was already nine o'clock, so I figured now was the best time as any to get some sleep. I sprawled out on the couch and pulled my white hat over my eyes. Just like the night before I found it hard to sleep, but it didn't really bother me. I was just happy my first day as a Trainer wasn't a complete disaster.

When I woke up in the morning it was still pretty early but I could hear voices and movement from the other room. Wandering into the other room I found the nurse carrying a couple plates of pancakes that came from an unseen kitchen. She offered me a plate, obviously in a better mood than the night before. I graciously accepted the food and scarfed it down, it was tempting to ask for more, but I didn't want to be rude. So instead I asked about the little Pidgey in the other room. It had made a full recovery and was returned to me.

I left the building, it was foggy and dim outside since it was still pretty early, I set the Pidgey down and offered my apologies for the day before. It jumped a couple paces away from me. I asked it to give me a real chance to raise it.

Kicking sand at me it puffed up its feathers, making it clear that it wanted a rematch. I didn't want to give in, until a devious plan formed in my mind. I called out my Fennekin and muttered to it my plan. I heard it growl excitedly and jump forward at the Pidgey. The two seemed like they were in a dance, neither landing a serious hit on each other. Fennekin would tap Pidgey with its paw gently and bounce away. Playing with the Pidgey, toying with it. It wasn't long before Pidgey was worn out and began to wobble on its feet. I threw a Poké Ball at it, but it kicked it back at me. We played a game of catch for a few turns before Pidgey couldn't fight it anymore and became my newest addition to my team. My team was coming along quite nicely, I just needed to start some serious training with them.

I scanned my new Pidgey's Poké Ball with my PokéDex and listened to the little electronic man tell me about my newest find as its stats appeared on the screen. _A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back._ I set out once again and started down the road and over the bridge once again. As I passed over the bridge I took my town map out and gave it a quick glance. Route One followed by Santalune Forest. Heh, they wouldn't know what hit them when I was done.


	3. Chapter 3 - A Forest Stroll

I walked towards the bridge, shivering a little against the foggy cold, when I hit the other side of the bridge I broke out into a brisk jog. It was even colder in the grass, because of the dew the night had left behind. I kept pushing on, eventually coming out on the other side of the grass, looking up I saw more grass taunting me with its cold leaves blowing gently in the wind. With a deep breath I dove forward and dashed into the next cluster of tall grass. Getting about half way through the patch I started to feel my heart beat coursing thorugh my veins, I was excited.

Exciting the grass I fell to my knees breathing heavily. Why was I so excited? Maybe because this was the farthest I've ever been from my home, maybe because I couldn't see very far ahead of me and had no idea what kind of dangers awaited. That got me thinking. _I need to train_. I thought to myself. I couldn't let me or my new partners get caught off guard. It could get us killed. I couldn't afford to think like that, so I pushed myself up to my feet again, still breathing heavily.

Glancing to my left I noticed something. There was a small brown raccoon like Pokémon, its muscles were tense and its fur bristled up. It was staring intently at me. Thinking back to my studies growing up I quickly placed that it was a Zigzagoon. Our eyes locked and I smiled and bent back down. The little thing looked scared. I slowly reached over to my right grabbing some berries off of the ground and offering them to the Zigzagoon, hoping it would want the food. Timidly, it began to inch its way towards me. I felt a smile creep upon my face, I bet my eyes were shining with stars that only grew bigger as the Zigzagoon got closer and closer.

Snap. A tree branch being broken a little ways away from me. The Zigzagoon sat up on its hind feet with a start and before I could react, it was gone, diving through the bushes on the outskirts of the trail. Gone. It was over. With a deep sigh I slumped forward, dropping the berries to my side along the way, this was my first failure on my journey. Groaning, I closed my eyes.

I heard a familiar noise next to me, but didn't bother opening my eyes or sitting up. I was disappointed. My chin was resting on the muddy ground, I had to collect my composure and continue on, but that would be in a few minutes. After a few moments, I felt a cold wet nose press up against my cheek and a tongue slide up towards my eye.

Sitting back up on my knees I looked down at my little Fennekin that had let itself out of the Poké Ball. It jumped up onto my lap making my dark blue jeans even dirtier than they already were. I couldn't help but literally laugh out loud as the Fennekin stared up at me with those big bright eyes. _I get it, I get it_ I thought to myself, _no feeling sorry for myself._ I rose to my feet and started making my way thorugh the tall grass in front of me. The last section on this route… I think. I could hear Fennekin jumping through the grass behind me, bounding to keep up.

As I marched the thought occurred to me. Had it been just another Pokémon that made that noise scaring my prize away from me? Or was it a person? Sighing I figured that I probably would never know what made that noise, all I knew is that Fennekin was right. I had to keep powering thorugh. I think the adrenaline had my emotions bouncing back and forth or something, because my drive was already to come back at full speed.

As I pushed my way thorugh the last chunk of tall grass I almost fell forward, I would have fallen flat on my face if I hadn't hopped forward a little bit on one leg. Apparently I wasn't the only one who lost their balance considering when I turned around Fennekin was tumbling forward, summersaulting its way out of the grass. Sitting up, Fennekin shook its head. She staggered to her feet and wobbled forward to stand beside me, smiling up at my face, I laughed.

"When two Trainer's eyes meet," A loud voice boomed at me, looking up I saw a young kid standing at the entrance to the forest, next to the directional sign, "a Pokémon battle must begin!" He said as a smug grin widened on his face. Laughing he threw a Poké Ball into the air, out of a bright red flash appeared a little Zigzagoon, bouncing up and down ready for battle.

My eyes narrowed, _right_ after the Zigzagoon I had tried to catch had gotten away, this little kid taunts me with his own Zigzagoon. I bet he was the one who had stepped on the stick. Based on the grass beneath him I figured he had been pacing. I couldn't help but feel the disappointment welling in my throat again, I snapped my fingers and Fennekin leapt forward. Fennekin growled at the Zigzagoon, as if sensing the feelings that were pushing their way into my mind. Shaking my head I ordered Fennekin to use Ember.

Fennekin jumped into the air and shot extremely hot cinders out of its mouth at the Zigzagoon, most of which were dodged, except the last few before Fennekin landed on its feet which landed direct hits. Zigzagoon fell backward, quickly scrambled to its feet and charged at Fennekin at intense speeds. Fennekin tried to jump out of the way, but wasn't fast enough and was knocked backwards, landing at my feet. I bent down and helped Fennekin back onto its feet, upon which it dove forward chasing after the Zigzagoon shooting cinders as it dove with each step. It was a good five minutes before Zigzagoon was worn out with its sides and head burned fairly badly. Zigzagoon fell to the ground in a heap, breathing heavily, defeated. Fennekin, small in stature, stood tall and seemed to spit out some black smoke in pride.

Seeing how heavily Fennekin was breathing I recalled it into its Poké Ball as the youngster did the same. Straightening his stance, with his lower lip quivering a little, "You should've told me you were THAT strong." He whined at me, even though his remark came across as a whimper I sensed a little bit of awe and inspiration that the battle gave him.

I stood up a little bit straighter and walked past him, entering the forest, pride welling in my heart. Did I look smug? I felt smug.

Walking into the forest, I was taken aback a little bit. Due to the intense tree canopy cut out most all light, so it took a little while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Granted it wasn't overly bright outside of the forest, since it was early still, but it was so much darker in this forest. After my eyes adjusted I walked forward a few more steps before I was stopped short by a familiar voice calling out to me.

"Wait up!" I spun on my heel to see Shauna running after me, stopping in front of me trying to catch her breath. "Let's walk together! I feel like something exciting will happen if I stay with you!" Despite being a little winded she was squirming in front of me with excitement. "I'll heal your Pokémon whenever you want me to!" She added almost as an afterthought, opening one of the pouches in her bag to reveal a large assortment of potions and antidotes that she, I assumed, had bought in town.

Her helpful attitude made me think that having this boisterous tag-along might not be so bad. I nodded in acceptance of her proposal and spun back around on my heel motioning her to follow me. As I started walking I pulled out my electronic town map from my shoulder bag and pulled put a close up image of Santalune Forest. It was an utter maze in my view. Looking back up from the map I realized I had just nearly walked into a large tree that stood tall in front of me. _Okay, maybe I should put the map away_, I thought to myself as I stuffed it back in my bag and turned to my left. _I'll just wing it!_ I laughed.

Wandering through the forest was definitely intimidating, but I figured if I was going to get lost I should at least have some fun doing it. I muttered my 'brilliant' plan to Shauna who had been skipping behind me happily humming to herself. We were spies! At least that's what we were pretending to do as we got further and further lost in the forest.

Glancing around a corner ahead of us, I saw a couple trainers on the pathway, they were some distance apart from each other, but I knew that as soon as I got near them they would challenge me to a battle. Being a spy and all I figured I had to be sneaky and go around them. And, despite Shauna's clear excitement for the journey and the game causing her to talk too much and bounce up and down as she walked, we were able to sneak past the trainers by intertwining our pathway through the trees.

We made it past them and it was 'safe' to re-enter our way onto what seemed to be one of the main pathways through the forest. It was hard to tell a main pathway from any other. Granted, our little sneaky detour had lead us to a dead end. Glancing at Shauna I could see her utter disappointment at having snuck all that way just to reach a dead end. Before either of us could say anything though, we saw a flash of movement pass between either side of the trees. The flash moved through the grass directly in front of us and kept running.

Shauna was definitely not the adventurer that she had claimed to be at the beginning of our journey for she practically jumped out of her skin, throwing her arms around my neck and holding on tight in fright. _Some spy._ I snorted in my head.

After prying her off of me I pulled out my PokéDex turning it on, the screen became brightly illuminated. I held it out, screen facing away from me, using the light of the screen to scan the area and try to see if there was any trace of the, whatever it was, left in the area. Glancing behind me I could see Shauna practically shaking in her ankle high boots. Returning my vision to where the screen was illuminating, was at first almost disappointing, nothing was there. Until I shifted my weight moving the lightly just enough to cause a shiny reflection off of something off the ground ahead of me.

Leaping forward I lunged at the object that had reflected the light and held it up, examining it. A potion. The label was worn and practically un-readable, but it was unmistakably a potion. I could tell because of the color, although faded, of the bottle. Each medical item for Pokémon was color coded, probably for this exact reason.

Walking back over to Shauna, I showed her my find. Whatever that flash of movement had been, I was guessing it was probably some kind of Pokémon having found the item or stolen it, must have dropped this in their hurry. But their loss was our gain. Retracing our steps to leave this dead end that we had gotten ourselves into, this time however we were following the pathway back, the one we had tried so hard to avoid. Completely forgetting about our game, which was fun while it lasted, but I think Shauna had had quite the exciting time.

About half way down the pathway I realized that those two trainers that had been there seemed to have disappeared. Which was pretty odd in my opinion. This forest was just full of mystery. Having almost completely trekked the pathway back I was starting to wonder if whatever flash that we had seen earlier had gotten to those trainers. I kept trying to push it out of my mind, being the brave one between the two of us, but I was seriously starting to get freaked out.

As if my heart was pounding loud enough in my head one of the trainers that seemed to have been missing from the trail jumped out in front of Shauna and I, laughing manically. I felt my skin crawl all the way up and my spine.

"Come on Scatterbug," the young man shrieked, "Let's powder this punk!" He held out a Poké Ball defiantly before throwing it between us and him, revealing a small caterpillar Pokémon, which let out one of the wimpiest battle cries that I had ever heard, which would have made it cute if I couldn't hear my heart beating loudly in my ears.

Shaking my head fiercely I tried to shake off the near heart attack that I had just had and regain my composure I reached to my belt and paused. I figured Fennekin was still pretty tired from the battle this morning with that Zigzagoon, and that tall grass. Groaning to myself, I hadn't really much of an opportunity to train my other Pokémon I decided that a flying type would at least have a little bit of an advantage against some little bug Pokémon. I threw my Poké Ball high up into the air calling forth my Pidgey.

Being the impatient person that I was I ordered my Pidgey to use a tackle attack, effectively dive-bombing that little Scatterbug. At least in my mind. That youngster was quick and smart. Not a good combo – not good for me that is. He ordered his Pokémon to use string shot and to dodge directly after. Aiming upward the Scatterbug shot a long string of white ooze out of its mouth and landed a shot on my Pidgey's right wing, sending it into a downward out of control spiral. Lucky for the Scatterbug that it had been able to inch away in time before my Pidgey hit the ground, hard.

Calling out to my now unconscious Pidgey, Shauna ran towards it, picking it up and running back behind me, immediately and instinctively healing its wounds. Now. It. Was. Personal. I threw Fennekin's Poké Ball into the air. I saw everything through a red filter as I commanded my Fennekin to repeat what it had done this morning. It chased after the now retreating Scatterbug shooting embers rapidly until the Scatterbug fainted. Which didn't take long. I recalled Fennekin at the same time as the youngster.

Looking down at his Poké Ball that held his now fainted Scatterbug I heard the boy whispering to it, "Cheer up, Scatterbug! We lost this time, but we'll get the next one who comes along for sure!" He turned and walked back to where he had been hiding, hopefully healing that poor little Pokémon.

Counting to ten until the strange rage that had boiled my insides had dissolved I asked Shauna how my Pidgey was doing. It needed rest but it was going to be fine. All I knew at this point was that I wanted to leave this forest, today was not my day. But it was only the second day of my journey, so I would get better, at least that's what I told myself.

The two of us began making our way through the winding pathways until nightfall. At least, as far as we could tell it was nightfall. It was hard to tell when everything around you was dark, even during the 'heat' of the day. It was hard for the heat of the sun to breach the tree canopy that loomed above us. We agreed that it was probably the best idea to stop for the night and make camp.

I was still pretty bummed out about how the day turned out. I had always dreamed that all the reading and studying I did as a child would make this adventuring thing so easy, but today taught me something. Something I wouldn't soon forget. That I had a lot to learn.

Still, it was pretty exciting camping out on the ground like we were. It was cold, wet and dark, but after starting a small controlled fire that we huddled around, letting all four of our Pokémon out of their Poké Balls to stretch their legs and warm up by the fire with us. Shauna and I sat there for a while joking about the day and laughing to ourselves about how stupid we must have looked wandering off of the track trying to be sneaky. Thinking about all that we'd done made me feel a little bit better about my day.

Out of the blue, I stood up calling my Fennekin, Caterpie, and Pidgey to follow me. The four of us walked a short distance away from the fire and began to train. I was right there with them running, jumping, punching, kicking, everything I could think of to help them get faster and stronger. It was still a very basic way of training, practicing their attacks, but it was getting us started. After a while, I realized that it was hard to tell if we were making any progress. How was I supposed to gage the power of the attacks if I couldn't directly see the effects? I started to think, letting them rest a few moments as I thought.

_Turn the attacks on myself_. It finally occurred to me. Shauna protested at first when I announced this plan I had, but I was stubborn and insisted that this would work. I had always read about great trainers who took on beatings from their own Pokémon, so why couldn't I be like that?

After a few hours I recalled all my Pokémon, figuring that was enough training for one night. I walked over the fire and quite literally collapsed. I was burned, scratched and bruised, but I was able to see just how powerful my Pokémon were becoming, their attacks getting more accurate. No matter how difficult this was, I knew that as long as my Pokémon became the greatest that they could be, it wouldn't matter. It'd be all worth it. It wasn't but five minutes before I felt my eyelids close, I was out for the night. Sleeping like a log. Tomorrow, and probably every day after, was going to be a long day.

Definitely going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4 - At What Costs?

Groaning, I sat up slowly and cautiously. I still ached immensely from the night before. So, maybe my training idea was a little intense, but that was no reason to give it up. Right? In my youth I had read about trainers succeeding with similar tactics, so why not learn from them and best them at their own game? At least that was my theory. I groaned again as I attempted to get to my feet, falling down a couple times, which only caused me more bruises, just on my rear end this time. Eventually I was able to stand upright, but my legs were still wobbly and my head felt a little woozy, my vision blurred out a couple of times as well. Great. Looking over, I realized that I had woken Shauna up with my grunting.

The two of us gathered our stuff back up and agreed to set out again. Despite being so loud and impatient, she was a really kind girl, she offered to carry my shoulder bag for me, at least for a little while. I politely declined and hefted the bag onto my shoulder. Funny. It felt heavier than yesterday. I laughed to myself, breathing in the cold air, as we started walking down the pathway. It wasn't long until we were able to get our bearings, after about ten minutes of walking we were back at the entrance to the forest, we could tell because of the large sign that taunted us. At least we knew what way not to go this time.

Shauna was practically skipping down the main pathway as we headed onward. I fell behind her a short distance, being too tired to keep up with her. Turning a corner ahead of me, Shauna practically bombarded with Trevor, who was clearly startled by her sudden appearance. But, being the type of person that he was, he quickly returned to what he was doing, muttering to himself the entire time.

When I joined Shauna on this new pathway I saw all our friends wading through some knee-length grass various distances ahead of us looking for Pokémon. Shauna and I kept on walking keeping an eye out for any other trainers there may be, or that may jump out at us like that one had done yesterday.

As we walked I noticed that almost all of our friends were mumbling something to themselves. Things about Potions and Poké Balls, always needing more. Where they catching more Pokémon than I was? Suddenly I was incredibly self-conscious about only having three to my name. I was about to pull Shauna into an unoccupied chunk of grass to start looking for more Pokémon to add my collection when she dashed off to that particular area without me having to have said anything. It took a moment for me to collect my thoughts, I hadn't had the time to react.

"Oh! Hang on one second, Allona!" She squealed, bending down and plucking something from the grass. She skipped back to me holding out a Paralyze Heal. "Look what I found, Allona! I'll give it to you! I love puzzles, so I watch everything more closely than you might think!" She was definitely right about that, she genuinely came across as an airheaded girl who wouldn't take too much time to think about what's around her – other than if a flower was pretty or not.

I graciously took the Paralyze Heal from her and put it away in my bag. Sighing, I realized that I'd be reorganizing my bag every single day, goodness, it was already a mess and the day had barely begun. But her small little detour took us right where I wanted to be. Shauna and I wandered back and forth through that grass just like our friends had been doing and still where.

We spent half the day trampling down grasses and crawling through the bushes trying to find Pokémon, but I'm sure with all the others doing the same we wouldn't see very many, most of them probably having been scared away. Finally though, our trampling brought forth success! A fat little Pikachu came darting out from behind one of the trees.

Reacting almost completely on instinct I through a Poké Ball into the air to which my Pidgey appeared in the sky and flew in a circular motion about the now terrified Pikachu. As if it wasn't scared before, but if it hadn't been, it was now. The little one starred up at my Pidgey watching it closely with its deep black eyes.

Yelling out my command, Pidgey dove downward at the Pikachu, which scurried out of the way. Pidgey flew back up, barely missing the ground, and dove again. I almost felt bad about this battle; Pikachu was getting bombarded and wasn't able to keep up its efforts to dodge. Nearing the end of its strength Pikachu tried to run away again, one of its only senses not affected at this point was its sight. Which made it easy to see where it planned on running away to by watching the direction its head and eyes were facing. Pidgey quickly got in front of the frightened mouse, hovering a few feet off of the ground. Pidgey began to rapidly beat its wings against the ground, kicking up sand into Pikachu's eyes, taking out its last sense it could rely on.

Almost as if giving up, it collapsed onto its side and I threw one of my spare Poké Balls at it. Pikachu disappeared into the Poké Ball with a red flash and it twitched back and forth. Once. Twice… Three times. The flashing light stopped and it stopped moving. I caught it.

Completely forgetting any pain I had been in earlier in the day I jumped up with joy, something I didn't do often. In fact, I did it so rarely that when I realized I had I blushed a little and immediately stopped. I ran over to the ball sitting on ground and picked it up, spinning around with it held high in my hands. Pidgey came and landed on my shoulder, I complimented it and thanked it immensely.

Walking back over to Shauna and letting out my newly captured Pikachu. It looked really weak and tired. I wished catching Pokémon was easier sometimes, but it was a reality I faced every day as a child. Pokémon get injured, my mom's Rhyhorn racing taught that to me all too well. I was incredibly glad that I had Shauna with me right now, because she got right to work applying the potions and bandages to my little mouse Pokémon. She started talking about how this would probably always be the hardest part of being a trainer, and how it broke her heart to see the Pokémon get hurt. I agreed wholeheartedly.

As she was doing that I pulled out my PokéDex and scanned the Pikachu into the database. A couple seconds later all of its stats appeared before me and I heard a little electronic man's voice come to life: "_Pikachu, the Mouse Pok_é_mon, evolved form of Pichu. It can generate electric attacks from the electric pouches located in both of its cheeks. Pikachu's tail is sometimes struck by lightning as it raises it to check its surroundings. Pikachu can help other Pikachu who are feeling weak by sharing its electric current._"

Once Shauna was finished bandaging the little guy I recalled it into its Poké ball. I figured I wasn't going to be lucky enough to find many more Pokémon running around in the open with all the commotion that had just transpired, so Shauna and I exited the grassy area and continued onward along the pathway.

Almost as if some grand gesture of the universe, we were stopped again by another trainer, which in itself isn't spectacular or unheard-of. No. The thing that was so remarkable was what she said and the one Pokémon that she had with her.

"Your Pokémon are in for a shock!" She cried out as she threw the Poké Ball that she had just detached from her belt into the air, revealing a little Pikachu standing between the three of us. How funny was that? Right after I caught my own Pikachu this happens. I couldn't help laughing to myself at this beautiful coincidence.

There was no point denying her challenge, so I threw one of my own Poké Balls into the air. I called forth my Fennekin. Fennekin must have gotten a good rest last night and during that day considering it was jumping up and down with its back fur raised ever so slightly. It made Fennekin look a little less sleek, but she was still an excellent example of beauty.

Pikachu started off the battle with a quick attack, dashing towards Fennekin before Fennekin even had the mind to recognize what was happening. Fennekin was nocked backwards, landing hard on its shoulder. But that didn't seem to bother her, since she jumped back to her feet and charged at the Pikachu. For a few minutes it was almost a game of tag, the two charging at each other, only a couple times landing direct hits.

Getting a little frustrated I ordered Fennekin to use ember. Ember had been my ace in the hole in just about every battle previously, so why not try it out now? I watched on as Fennekin steadied its stance, planting its feet firmly on the ground as it took in air. Opening its mouth even wider, Fennekin began to shoot searing embers at the rival Pikachu. Pikachu dodged the first few embers, allowing them to hit the pathway and disappear into a lump of black dust. However, because of the fatigue setting in both of our Pokémon some of the embers started connecting with their target, eventually all of them started connecting. Pikachu collapsed, trying to stand back up, but Fennekin would have nothing to do with it. Charging forward, Fennekin began scratching and biting Pikachu until it wasn't able to stand back up, blood slowing pooling around the wounds that covered its entire body and face. Quickly I recalled Fennekin.

Looking on in horror as the trainer recalled her Pikachu and began running towards the entrance of the forest. In earlier battles I had watched both my opponents and my own Pokémon get wounded, but that was the first time I had seen the blood pour from one of them. I felt my hands shake as I looked down, wide-eyed, at the Poké Ball in my hand. What had I done, at what costs does it take to be a Pokémon trainer? What this worth it? These thoughts had been in my mind earlier, but they seemed more prominent now.

Gulping hard, I shrunk the Poké Ball and placed it at my belt. Shauna had already started walking on ahead of me. Absentmindedly I followed her, clutching my churning stomach. I kept trying to take my mind off that battle, but thoughts kept running through my mind. I couldn't help but wonder if that Pikachu was going to be alright. I guess it was seeing that blood that got me all bothered, but every time I closed my eyes I saw those wounds.

I had to keep those thoughts out of my mind, so I jogged slightly to catch up with Shauna and tried to get a conversation going with her. But she must have recognized the thoughts that contorted my facial expressions, she must have saw that my smile was a lie. As we walked she decided that she needed to give me a little bit of an emotional boost. She reassured me that each and every one of our Pokémon knew what they were doing when they charged into battle, when they _chose_ to obey us or not. That we couldn't truly blame ourselves if they got injured. Even though it bothered us sometimes.

Lies. They had to be lies. There was no possible way that I wouldn't give some blame to myself if my Pokémon, or anyone else's for that matter, got hurt. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head rather violently. When I opened my eyes back up, my vision blurred a little, but soon returned to normal.

We carried on in silence after that. Shauna blissfully unaware of the anger and sadness that coursed their way through my veins like ice. But I had to keep up appearances. I had to pretend like none of this bothered me. I smiled.

Finally we came to the end of the forest. We saw a bright light shining through the exit just ahead of us. I felt my heart skip a beat, I was glad to be getting out of this forest. Glad beyond words. From behind us I heard footsteps. I dreaded the thought of someone encroaching on the success of leaving the forest, considering we had not actually left yet, but I turned around anyway. I was relieved to see that it was just Calem.

"So, you're the first to arrive." Calem stated, as matter-of-factly. I got the feeling that he was disappointed to not have been first, but none-the-less he continued, "Looks like my new neighbor is someone with a lot of potential." I felt a blush creep onto my face. A cute boy had just told me that I had potential! I bit my lip to keep from saying anything stupid in front of him.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, looking past Calem I saw Trever and Tierno running to catch up to the three of us. I wondered if Trevor was like a Pokémon in the sense that Tierno had control over him. The two were always together, even though it looked like Trever hated it. It was just a thought, but part of me wanted to protect him, like I wanted to protect my Pokémon from any wounds they might receive. I shuttered and pushed the thought out of my mind once again.

When Trevor and Tierno were standing beside us I noticed that Tierno was practically dancing, bouncing up and down. "The way Pokémon move – it's just incredible! I want to show off some of that spirit when I dance!" I heard myself groan inwardly at hearing his words, but I stopped myself before it got too loud. But based on the look that Calem gave me, I think he heard me. I quickly looked away, but I had a feeling he felt similarly.

"Tierno…" Trever said, almost in a whispering voice, so timid. "Could you think about something besides how Pokémon move for once?" He gave Tierno a look that was almost chastising. Almost. His voice showed signs of irritation and frustration, which was completely understandable, spending so much time with that dance-maniac.

Shauna stepped between everyone who had been standing in a semi- circle at that point. "We're all here! Let's go to Santalune City!" She practically demanded. I think she knew the argument that could ensue between all of us, and was determined to put a stop to it by changing the subject. Her demeanor was so bright and cheerful though, so maybe it was just her being her oblivious self.

All of us went along with her plan. Turning towards the forest exit everyone walked on ahead of me. I breathed deeply and made a solemn vow in my head. I would never allow my Pokémon to suffer at the hands of myself or anyone else. I would become a master and bring out the strength in each of them. In the pit of my stomach I knew that I would succeed no matter what the costs, because I knew the pain of all the Pokémon within my care. I would continue training the way I had the night before. I would understand everything that they went through for me – because I would be going through the same alongside them. Nothing would stop me. And my Pokémon would never face death if I could help it.

I walked forward and crossed the barrier out of the forest and onto the route. In the back of my mind I could hear a voice, _what is this animal I had become? _The voice asked. And I answered, _a savior… And a champion._

But at what cost…?


	5. Chapter 5 - Skatin' On Through

There was a wide-open pathway on the outskirts of the forest, to the right there were more trees and shrubs, and on the left, there was a small pond that had beautiful and fragrant flowers and foliage surrounding it. The sun shone brightly and felt warm on my skin, it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the brightness of the mid-day sun, as I am sure it was the same for my four companions. All the colors that surrounded the area were a gentle pastel. I couldn't help but start smiling, the view was almost intoxicating. It was obvious that the route had been well taken care of, extensively so, I assumed that meant there was a town nearby, which was quite reassuring.

All five of us were standing together looking around us, taking in all we could. After spending two full days in that forest, I'm sure all of us were glad to be out in the open air with actual sunlight allowing us to see so clearly. I breathed in deeply a few times. The smells here were similar to those in the forest, but the air here it didn't seem as thick and the smells were less musty, which was refreshing and made it easier to breathe.

The five of us turned to each other, standing in a semi-circle, all smiling immensely. Both Shauna and Tierno looked like they couldn't hold themselves still, not that they would want to anyway, but if they had, it would have been a futile effort. Not surprisingly, Shauna was the first of us to speak up; she was quite the talker, very engaging. "What are you all going to do?" She asked us, her eyes darting back and forth between all of us.

I think this was the first time that I had seen Trevor perk up so much; he was the first to answer Shauna's inquiry. "Why, look for Pokémon of course! The professor did ask us to complete the Poké Dex, after all." He had a prideful tone in his voice – pride in his, well our, mission, his smile shone wide on his face as he spoke – it shown brightly in his eyes as well. "And furthermore," he continued, "different Pokémon prefer living in different places. To put it another way, it's a chance to find different Pokémon than the ones in the forest!"

That little nagging voice in my head picked up once again. Did everyone have more Pokémon than I did? Was I behind? Well, Shauna didn't seem to have caught any new ones – so at least I was ahead of her, I think, maybe, I hope. My train of thought was abruptly derailed however, no shock, by Tierno. I was really beginning to dislike him, I barely knew him and found myself loathing every time that he spoke; I opened my mouth ever so slightly to prevent myself from grinding my teeth together.

"I'll bet different Pokémon will use different moves. I sure want to see lots of moves." Tierno exclaimed jumping back and forth, shifting his weight between his feet. His whole body shook with each leap, and I couldn't help but shutter at the sight of it. There was a moment of silence after he had spoken; I doubt anyone knew how to respond properly to his outburst.

"What are you going to do, Calem?" Shauna asked in a strained attempt to get the conversation going again.

"I'm going to go to Santalune City's Gym and challenge the Gym Leader." Calem said matter-of-factly. "You see, Pokémon Trainers find out how good they really are by challenging the Leaders in Pokémon Gyms." I noticed Calem gripping at his shoulder strap as he spoke; it was kind of cute, he was anxious to continue on his journey.

"Wow!" Shauna exclaimed, her eyes gleaming, "You sure know a lot!" She was squirming happily; I was getting the impression that she didn't get the chance to go to Trainers School as a kid, but her eagerness to learn now seemed to make up for the lack of official education.

Calem seemed to be taken aback by this sudden compliment. A light blush dusted on his face – so light that I don't think the others noticed - but I did. "It's because Mom and Dad taught me so much. Here, I have something for you guys: 'Adventure Rules.'" Calem handed each of us a little booklet that had been obviously printed up at home. I could tell by glancing at it, that his parents had been strict with his learning and training. Calem went on to describe what he had just given us. "I've wrote down 10 different tips every Trainer should know. If you are puzzled about something, try looking in these rules."

With a deep sigh and a wave of his hand, Calem ran off down the route. It didn't take long before he was out of sight. Shauna once again broke the silence by saying: "Oh, this is great! I'm going to spend some time getting to know my Li'l Chespin!" She pulled out her Poké Ball and held it against her face lovingly rubbing her cheek against it. Each of us took Calem's running off as a cue to start going off on our own, so no one bothered to attempt to keep the conversation moving.

I looked down at the "Adventure Rules" booklet in my hand and flipped it open, glancing at the rules. They were simple rules with descriptions following each of the titles. It read:

"Adventure Rule No. 1: Know your Pokémon - it is vital to familiarize yourself with Pokémon types, so that you know which moves are most vital at all times in battle. Adventure Rule No. 2: Battle as often as possible - experience is the only way to grow. Adventure Rules No. 3: Throw Poké Balls to catch Pokémon; most don't travel outside of Poké Balls and they provide a great way to allow your Pokémon to get some rest. Adventure Rules No. 4: Weaken Pokémon you want to catch, a strong Pokémon will break out of a Poké Ball easily and most likely break the Poké Ball in the process – making it useless. Adventure Rules No. 5: Never give up! There will always be set backs, so there shouldn't be any hurt feelings throughout your journey. Adventure Rule No. 6: Heal your Pokémon at Pokémon Centers, they are free to use and generally more polite than small town caregivers – who often criticize trainers for their practices. Adventure Rule No. 7: Buy more items than you think you need, you never know how far it will be before the next town will be, in other words - how long until you can buy more items. Adventures Rules No. 8: Talk to everyone you meet for information; not everyone will be helpful mind you, but sometimes people can be downright useful. Adventure Rules No. 9: When you get lost, check your Town map. It seems obvious, but in a panic the obvious often times slips our minds. And finally, Adventures Rules No. 10: Enjoy your journey with your Pokémon. It's not really a rule, but advice, if you aren't enjoying yourself every once in a while, you won't get anywhere in your journey and no one will want to be around you."

It all seemed pretty basic, but it was all still sound advice. I smiled, I could hear his voice when reading it, and I could hear a little bit of sarcasm sprinkled in that voice; granted, that could have just been my imagination, but somehow, I didn't think so.

Walking past each of my friends that were left standing there, I smiled at each of them, nodding my head. However, once I past them, my pace quickened - I was eager to see how far I could get each day, eager to see how far away from home I could get.

I took the first corner in the road a little too fast and almost fell down the small flight of stairs that had been built into the ground. It wasn't until then that I realized the pathway was paved – or that the stairs had been there at all. I laughed at my own obliviousness, how silly of me. There were only a few steps, but I took them two at a time, plopping my feet down on the bottom, I began to walk again.

Bam. Getting only a few steps further than I had been, I was suddenly shoved out of the way, falling over onto my side with a painful thud. Looking up and around in shock I saw a girl on roller skates speeding on down the pathway. "Comin' through!" She shouted behind her at me, not even turning her head back to see if I was all right. As if that was some kind of apology? It really wasn't.

Straitening my body back up and returning to my feet, twisting a little to un-kink my muscles from the attack, and brushing the dust off my legs and shirt with my hands. I watched as that girl speed around a corner not far ahead of where I stood, maybe 50 feet ahead, the sides of her skates scraping on the pavement beneath her before accelerating on, which seemed like a natural action to her.

I mumbled to myself as I started following the path she had sped down. Even if it took me a while, I was going to find her and figure out what was so important that she had to fly right on past me, knocking me over like that. The pathway wasn't a very long one, and I looked both right and left, trying to be especially aware of my surroundings. I knew she had gone to the right towards town, I assumed, but on the left was more grassy areas and a few larger trees. A trace of curiosity welled up in the pit of my stomach, I wanted to investigate the types of Pokémon that where around the area, outside of the forest that I had been so eager to escape from. Nevertheless, my thoughts soon returned to the girl who had knocked me down; I needed to find her, I desired answers.

Curiosity overwhelmed me, however. I would catch up to that girl in a minute, after I walked around that area a little bit. I started crawling through the grasses around me, trying to be quiet about it so I wouldn't startle any Pokémon that happened to be there. It was difficult to be quiet however, considering I kept running into ledges and large trees banging my head and groaning aloud. It was an hour before I saw any Pokémon in the area, but finally I found one. I sat hunched over on my hands and knees when I felt a weight suddenly land on my back and bounce off; I jumped up in shock and looked at that weight that now sat in front of me - a small bunny Pokémon stood in front of me with wide eyes.

Eyeing the creature thing up and down, taking in every inch of it that I could, I noticed that its left hind leg was bleeding. Badly at that. I crouched back down to my knees and slowly held out my hand, attempting to offer a peaceful impression. There was no point in me fighting something that already had an open wound, so instead, maybe I could earn the little Pokémon's trust. As I reached out my hand, the bunny limped pitifully backward away from me. Slowly, I reached into my shoulder bag and pulled out one of the three potions I had with me, definitely needed to buy more when I was done with this, definitely.

I held out the potion in front of the bunny, attempting show it that I meant no harm. Cautiously, the small little creature inched forward sniffing at the bottle in my hand. I guess potions smelled bitter, cause the little thing backed away in utter disgust – I guessed that Pokémon medicine tasted and smelled just as horribly as the medicine that had bene forced down my throat every time I got sick as a child. Knowing I was not going to get very far this way, I quickly reached out, grabbing ahold of the creatures arm and pulling the little guy towards me, as gently yet firmly as I could. Terrified, the bunny Pokémon began pulling away, crying out and scratching at my hands and arms. I began to sing softly to the creature, as a mother would on instinct, at first it didn't look like it as working.

A few moments passed before the Pokémon finally started to calm down. Working quickly I whipped the blood away with my spare shirt and applied the potion spray directly to the wound. The Pokémon screeched in pain, I had to tighten my grip as best I could so that it would not get away. If it did, it would just hurt itself more, maybe bleed more – maybe even die. As quickly as I could I started applying the bandages, keeping them tight as to protect the wound. Once I was done, I let go of the Pokémon and sat back on my haunches. It looked up at me with large eyes, which darted between its now bandaged leg and me.

It was not hard to tell what it was thinking. It was incredibly confused. I figured the wound came from another Pokémon or a careless trainer the Pokémon just happened to come across; I'm sure all wild Pokémon learn at an early age to be fearful of humans. I smiled down at the little rabbit and held out my hand like before, but this time it came to me willingly. I giggled to myself as it rubbed its head against my hand; its whiskers tickled as it caressed against my hand. Trying to be casual, and keep the trust building, I tentatively reached into my bag with my free hand and pulled out one of my Poké Balls, enlarging it to full size. I held it out in front of the Pokémon and let it decide; hopefully it was beginning to trust me, I mentally crossed my fingers.

I almost saw a smile cross on its face as it pressed its small grey nose against the Poké Ball's button and disappear with a red flash into it. Day three of my journey and I already had five Pokémon with me. Pulling out my PokéDex I scanned the Poké Ball in and heard the electronic man's voice come alive: "Bunnelby, the digging Pokémon. They use their large shovel like ears to dig burrows. They will dig the whole night through. They can sever thick roots effortlessly."

_Ears… As shovels, that is… interesting._ I thought to myself as I resumed standing, _what an odd little rabbit_. Spinning on my heel I headed towards the pathway once again, there was an unusual bounce in my step as I strode forward. Returning to the pathway, I trekked onward following the direction I originally headed down, the sun was setting already, and it would be nightfall soon. Luckily, I entered Santalune City as soon as I turned the corner, relief washed over me at the notion of the close proximity of a Pokémon Center, I would finally be able to doze and dine.

Upon actually entering Santalune City the sight of the Pokémon Center that loomed before me - the Pokémon Center was a significantly sizeable building, two stories tall, with a red décor covering the roof that crept downward onto the side panes. I staggered to the front doorway, which slide open automatically – not many buildings had automatic doors in this region from what I have read, considering most of society didn't see the need for the cost of instillation when regular doors worked just as well without the cost. The interior was well lit and spacious, light auburn colors decorated the walls with tasteful images sparsely hanging upon the walls. Directly in front of where I stood was a large counter with a sophisticated computer to the right, the color resembled the red that lined the outer siding and a pink haired lady – whom I could only assume was the active nurse – stood behind the counter, with several enormous machines behind her, presumably to heal the Pokémon that came through.

I made it about half way to the counter when I heard the automatic doors slide open and closed behind me, instinct told me to turn and see whom it was, and I obeyed that instinct. Part of me yearned for it to be that skater girl who had run me off the road earlier in the day, but alas, to my severe displeasure, Tierno stood before me, his eyes widened as well as his smile when he realized whom it was that stood between him and the counter. I had to force myself not to groan aloud as he approached me.

"Oh! Hey there, Allona! Are you here to get your Pokémon healed, too?" He asked loudly, had he never been taught what an 'inside voice' was as a child? I simply nodded my response and avoided eye contact, wishing he would take a hint and move on - he did not. "Pokémon Centers sure are great. You can talk to the lady at the counter and have her heal your Pokémon. And you can even deposit Pokémon you've caught using that PC!" To no one's surprise Tierno started bouncing between his two feet moving in a semi-circular motion around me in what he considered a dance form, I could feel everyone's eyes turn to me and my face began to burn. Then suddenly, he stopped dancing and turned to me, apparently remembering something. "Oh! Hey, Allona. There's a Poké Mart in the back of a Pokémon Center. It's a good idea to stock up on Poké Balls and Potions and stuff at the Poké Mart, too."

Tierno danced his way over to a corner seat by a bookshelf and began to root through his backpack, occasionally pulling things out and replacing them into the backpack. I caught myself grinding my teeth, but I swallowed my pride and walked over to the counter choosing to ignore the incident that had just transpired. The pink haired woman at the counter, Nurse Joy, greeted me kindly and took my Pokémon from to run checkups and heal them; she even complimented me on my work on my newly caught Bunnelby. While she sauntered to the back room to continue her work on my Pokémon I took this time to visit the Poké Mart that was around the corner.

There were two men working at the desk, both of whom looked up eagerly at me as I approached, I smiled politely at both of them. I paused at the counter as I perused the locked cabinets behind them filled to the brim with the top-notch items every trainer must have. Sadly, I only had $3500 to my name at this point, and all of the prices were incredibly high, meaning I not only would not purchase much, but I would be broke rather quickly. With a deep sigh, I requested one night's stay in the upstairs rooms available, one hot meal, five potions and one antidote. In total, $1700 – I was floored, these prices were absolutely ridiculous, and everyone knew a trainer's life was not a profitable one. I handed over the money and got my items, quickly shoving them in my bag and taking the room key from the man on the left – they looked like identical twins. Once they informed me that my meal would be brought up to my room in an hour, I groaned along with my stomach and returned to the main counter.

Returning to the main counter I inquired about my Pokémon's status, according to Nurse Joy they were doing fine but they wanted to run a few more tests, so it would be another fifteen minutes to half an hour. I thanked her and walked over to one of the seats on the side of the Pokémon Center main floor, making sure to choose the opposite side that Tierno had chosen. I plopped down in my seat and began to organize the items that I had just haphazardly thrown into its main pouch, I couldn't help overhear a couple of kids next to me talking about how desperately they wanted a Pikachu, mimicking one's voice. As I was placing things back into their proper place in my shoulder bag, I thought back to when I was younger and that excited about being a trainer, only a couple day ago – not to say that I wasn't thrilled now. Just tired.

I couldn't help but wonder if every day as a trainer was going to be like these last three had, was every day going to be a lot of frustration occasionally broken up by a win or a catch? Who was I kidding – I had always had horrible luck growing up and had to do things the hard way. Nevertheless, I figured, the hard way meant I would never be taking short cuts, and I would be champion one day, even if it took me an eternity.

My thoughts were abruptly cut short when Nurse Joy called me over to the counter and handed my Poké Balls back to me, wishing me the best of luck on my journey, I thanked her. Once I was settled in the small little room I had rented for the night I looked around and realized just how small it was – especially for $100. Oh well, nights inside would probably be hard to come by, so I was going to enjoy every minute of sleeping on a bed. I lay down and was instantly asleep, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light, letting sleep consume me.

Day three was finished, and tomorrow I would find that skater girl, I just knew it.


	6. Chapter 6 - Schooling Skaters

I awoke the next day groggy, all my muscles were still stiff and sore. I sauntered into the tiny little rooms' tiny little, dimly lit, bathroom, and looked at my smeared reflection in the dirty mirror. My hair was a mess, took me quite a while to tame with my fingers due to lack of comb, but eventually it sat neatly beneath my white hat - which I set on my head a little askew, most people around here either wore their hats straight forward or straight backward, but I liked the off look. Bending down, I turned the sink on and splashed my face with the cooling clear water that poured from the sink; it was incredibly refreshing, and helped splash away any grogginess that I had left.

I looked around the bathroom, taking in all of the dirt that was around me, it seemed odd. The rest of the Pokémon Center had seemed spotless, yet this bathroom seemed like it hadn't seen a maid in at least a month, at least. I guess this center didn't get many overnight visitors, so they didn't see the need to keep up on the cleaning. I shrugged and walked back into the main room I was staying in, I had stayed in worse hotels as a child, remembering back I laughed to myself as I began to dig through my backpack. When I was younger, before we moved to the Kalos region, my mother and I had traveled a couple of towns over to visit my grandparents, and on the way we stated in this hotel that was infested with wild and rabid Pokémon, filth and rot climbing up the walls. I didn't sleep a wink that night.

Finally finding what I was looking for in my backpack, I pulled out my spare clothes to change into; my smile faded, however. I realized that I couldn't change my shirt, the memory or yesterday flooded into my mind, I had used my shirt to help bandage my recently caught little Bunnelby's wound. Spinning around, I walked back to the bathroom and turned the sink back on dunking the shirt in the semi-warm water. I scrubbed the shirt the best I could, using practically all of the soap in the little container on the counter beside me. However, try as I might, I wasn't able to get the bloodstains out of my shirt – granted, it didn't help that it was a white shirt. Groaning, I gave up on getting the shirt clean. Wringing as much tainted pink water out of it as I could I unfolded it, looking it up and down, definitely ruined. I shrugged and threw it into the small wastebasket under the sink.

Returning to the main room again I groaned and placed my extra pants back into my back and slung it onto my shoulder, no changing clothes for me – even though I probably needed it. Before leaving the room, I turned to look around the room one last time to make sure that I didn't forget anything of mine, I didn't. After closing the door behind me and locking it I walked down the hall and down the stairs to the main floor – it was time I found that skater girl who knocked me over yesterday. Looking around the room, there wasn't very many people in the center - young twin girls talking about a Pikachu, Tierno still sitting on the other side of the room, and a couple other people talking amongst themselves. I walked past them all to the main counter where Nurse Joy stood.

After returning my room key, I asked Nurse Joy if she knew who that mysterious skater girl might have been, and at first, she seemed confused by this question, until I explained why I was asking. But sadly, she informed me that it could have been almost anyone in town, this town was known for its skaters, virtually everyone in town had the snap on skates.

With a deep sigh and a bit of a heavy heart I walked out of the Pokémon Center, apparently my quest to find the skater girl was going to be difficult; well, at least not off to a good start. Once I walked out of the center I looked around it was already daylight, probably around noon or so. Santalune City was well taken care of from what I could see, just like the route I had just came from, flower beds, café and park areas were all around. With a deep breath I took in the smells of the flowers in the air, it was delightful, but I had a mission, so I wouldn't waste any time. But where to start?

I walked around the corner and was faced with a giant Roserade Fountain in the middle of the small town with sparkling clear water pouring out of the roses on the end of its arms; the water that sprayed out created a rainbow like effect that was beautiful, borderline hypnotizing. Shanking my head to break away from the hypnotic effect, I continued walking down until I stood next to the fountain and looked to either side of me; there were rows of simple one-story houses on both sides. I guess one way to find someone was to go door to door – even though that would take forever. I decided to go to my left first, meandering down the street until I found a house that seemed occupied at the moment, the first few appeared to be vacant – perhaps the occupants were at work, it was midday after all.

I walked up to the house, taking in a deep breath for courage; I knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to answer. A small brunette woman answered the door and smiled at me; in an almost singsong voice, she asked what she could help me with. Simply, I stated that I was looking for a tall skater girl that had knocked me down the other day. Shifting her weight to her right foot the woman raised a hand to her chin in thought, but alas, she was only able to reiterate what Nurse Joy had already told me – almost everyone in the town were skaters, it was especially popular in the teenagers, no leads here. I thanked her for her time and moved on down the line of houses.

Several of the houses that I knocked on either had the same information that Nurse Joy and that first lady had; eventually I wandered back to the center of town with the Roserade fountain beginning to head down the other side of houses. It was then I passed a large building that looked somewhat like a school or hotel of some kind, and standing next to the hotel was a tall woman with light brown hair. She wore what looked to be an expensive suit, she looked smart and well off, neither of those things were indicators of if she would be helpful or not, but I remained hopeful – so I approached her.

"Oh, you… You are Allona, aren't you?" She exclaimed as I approached her, she seemed really pleased to see me – even though I had absolutely no idea who she was. As she spoke, I stopped walking and took one-step back – confused. "You're one of the kids who got a Pokémon from Augustine Sycamore, right?" I nodded nervously in response, how did she know who I was? Curious. "That Fennekin you've got there looks pretty happy. You must be a good Trainer. In that case, get over to the Pokémon Gym. I'm sure my sister will be glad to meet you!" As she spoke, she motioned to the Poké Ball that sat attached to my belt. It is a well-known fact that when held up to the light you can see into a Poké Ball to see which Pokémon you are calling out – even though most Trainers just memorized the order the Pokémon were placed in, but how could she see what Pokémon sat at my side?

I was not about to confront this creepy woman any more than I already had to, so I smiled kindly at her, slowly backing away, turning on my heel, and walking the other direction. Once I was out of sight of her, my pace quickened. As I walked forward, I continued to be entirely confused, how could she have known? I was abruptly distracted though, because continuing the opposite direction led me directly in front of the Santalune City Gym – and low and behold in front of the gym stood the girl who had practically run me over the other day. Now was my chance to confront her! I grinned wildly with anticipation.

When I walked up to her, I opened my mouth and raised my pointer finger in the air to state my business and demand an apology, but I was ignored as she began to talk herself. "Hey, stranger! Isn't cruising around town on your Roller Skates the best thing ever?" I stared at her in astonishment, apparently blaring past me as quickly has she had meant she didn't recognize me. "Wait. Do you mean to tell me that you don't even own a pair of Roller Skates?!" It was now her turn to look upon me in astonishment, apparently everyone else I talked to were serious, this town was obsessed with these roller skates – indeed the fad had taken a full hold on this town. Suddenly this girl perked up again, without requiring an answer from me – "Then how about this: if you beat me in a Pokémon battle, I'll give you a pair! I can never say no to a contest, not me! So, how about it? Do you wanna battle?" Her fast talking style and desire to not stop talking seemed to remind me of Shauna, except it was almost cute when Shauna rambled – not with this girl.

How could I say no to this battle, I wouldn't even bother bringing up what she did to me if I won, winning in a battle against her would be the apology that I needed. In all reality, I had wanted to battle her from the beginning, to get my pride back. I nodded happily to wit she took out a Poké Ball and threw it dramatically into the air – a little Zigzagoon appearing from the red flash. I groaned to myself, _really? Another Zigzagoon? Am I destined to be taunted by Zigzagoons for the rest of my life?_ I thought as I mindlessly threw my own Poké Ball into the air, calling forth my Pidgey. "Whether it's Pokémon or Roller Skates, speed is important!" The skater shouted as she ordered the first attack.

With intense force, Zigzagoon leapt forward charging at my Pidgey, who was at first un-phased due to being midair, however Zigzagoon was able to push itself off of the ground and land a direct head-butt against Pidgey, knocking it back against me – almost knocking me over in the process. Holding Pidgey out in my hands after standing back up, it took flight once again and dived at Zigzagoon at my command – talons aimed for the attack. Flying down at Zigzagoon with talons still aimed, Pidgey and Zigzagoon entered into a tango like embrace, dodging and clawing at each other – they went on like this for like almost a full five minutes. By the end of tango like attacks, they were both exhausted, pulling away from each other panting, Zigzagoon on the ground, Pidgey weakly flying in the air.

I could feel sweat dripping from my forehead; this was important victory to me – even if it wouldn't mean anything in the end. My teeth ground together, my hands clamped in a tight fist, my heart pounding in my head – it felt as though my Pidgey and I were one being. Closing my eyes as I exhaled, opening my eyes wildly I called out to Pidgey. This was going to be the end of it – closing in for one last blow, a peck attack. Pidgey, without fear, dove at my command – landing a direct hit against Zigzagoons side. The fight was over.

The roller skater recalled her Pokémon, looking down at the Poké Ball in her hand a little sadly; however, she perked up quickly. "You wrapped up the battle before I could reach my top speed. W-wow." She laughed as she spoke, a wide smile on her face with bright eyes. "You might be stronger than a Gym Leader! All right! Here you go: one spiffy pair of roller skates, just as I promised." She added as she dug into her backpack, pulled out a spare pair of skates, and handed them to me, and, with a twirl, she began walking towards the Pokémon Center.

As I watched her walk away I was a little stunned, after everything I went through to find her – I got a short battle, a pair of clip on roller skates, and was left standing there. I wasn't upset however, I was a little happy, I just felt a little odd. I recalled my Pidgey and thanked it through the Poké Ball for its hard work and as began walking back to the Pokémon center, my mind began to wander. _Spiffy? Who says spiffy anymore?_ I thought to myself, thinking back to what that roller skater had said to me, _oh well, I wonder what I should now…_

Once back at the Roserade fountain after visiting the center to have my Pidgey looked at, it just needed some rest, I began looking around town once again. I saw that the woman who had recognized me earlier was still standing by the tall school like building. I had no interest in holding another conversation with her, but curiosity coursed through my veins about the building. I was sure it was a school, I attended a smaller version like it back in the Kanto region, but I couldn't help but yearn for more knowledge. I was always like that as a child, never missing a day of school. I strode forward to the front door of the school and entered it with a smile on my face.

Upon entering, and closing the door behind me as quietly as I could, I took in the sight of the large classroom. It appeared that all of the students were in study groups, so I felt it all right to approach the front of the classroom and read the chalkboard – to see which lesson these young ones were currently studying. The whiteboard explained Pokémon status changes that occur in battle including poison, paralysis, sleep, burns, and frozen conditions. I checked over them, thinking back to when I had to take notes. Spinning around on my heel I looked around at the posters and people in the room, when my eyes landed on an elderly man, whom I assumed was the teacher, I figured it would be a good idea to speak with him and get any advice that he may have.

I approached him with my hands behind my back and a large smile on my face, introducing myself, and reaching out a hand to shake hands. He seemed surprisingly energetic for his age as he took my hand in both of his, vigorously shaking my hand. "Oho! A new face in town! Yes, indeed!" He declared as he released my hand and grabbed a few items off the bookcase behind him. "Take this with you on your way, oh and take this as well." He shoved a couple x-attacks and x-defends at me, which I graciously took, albeit a little nervously – I handled them awkwardly as I slid them into my shoulder bag. "Yes, they are for Pokémon battles!" The teacher continued on – "By knowing which items to use during the right moment in battle, a Trainer can save his or her partner in a pinch."

I courteously thanked the teacher for the items and his wise words, bowing respectively as I did so. I stayed a couple hours talking to the teacher's assistant and the children in the room, getting to know them a little and learning about what they were learning at the time, what they enjoyed about school, and what their favorite Pokémon were. When I finally left the building, waving my good-bye to the students, I realized that I had wasted an entire day looking for the skater girl and talking to these kids. It was starting to get dark outside, so I instinctively walked back to the Pokémon Center.

Standing in front of the doorway of the Pokémon Center, I stared up at the building deep in thought – I didn't have enough money to pay for another night staying here. Well, I had enough, but I couldn't afford to be wasting my money so needlessly. With a groan and a roll of my eyes, I walked to the side of the building, down an alleyway that had a couple of benches resting on the sides of the buildings. This would be my bed for tonight, I suppose. Curling up on top of the nearest bench, I rested my head on my shoulder bag; this wasn't the most comfortable position, but it would have to make due.

_Yay for another long night_, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes in a forced slumber. However, my attempt at sleep was disrupted not long into the night when I felt something pressing against my stomach. I opened my eyes to see a small Bunnelby snuggling against me, it looked scared of its surroundings, but oddly calm while pressed against me. I looked around and saw a young trainer standing at the entrance of the alley – and he looked very mad, and I couldn't help but notice the skates that were attached to his shoes.

Declaring his name to be Aaron, he was demanding his Bunnelby back in a loud, booming voice – telling me that I had no right to be near is treacherous Bunnelby, his words. I stood up and smiled, it was clear that the small rabbit Pokémon didn't desire to go back with this man – so I asked him what had been going on to cause his Pokémon to run away from him like it had. As Aaron spoke, I could feel my blood boil.

Leaning forward, still talking way too loud for this time of night, he began to prattle on about his tale. The two of them had been doing some intensive training together after losing to the gym leader, Viola, and he had gotten frustrated and started yelling. Bunnelby got scared and ran from him. I could see in his eyes that that wasn't the whole story, so I continued pressuring him for information – it was not long before I heard what I knew I would. The statement was simple enough; Aaron got mad and raised a hand to Bunnelby, a one-time occurrence. Another lie.

My response was just as simple as his was – if he wanted his Bunnelby back, he would have to go through me. Aaron lunged forward, landing a direct punch to the side of my face and thusly knocking me down. I glared up at him from the ground and threw myself at him – I was fast because of the momentum I gained from my crouching position. I had him on his back and smacked his face repeatedly until he was able to crawl out from under me and look at me in pure horror, if the Pokémon was that important to me I could have it, and he knew it.

Running away, probably home to his mother, Aaron left Bunnelby and me alone in the alley. The side of my face was swollen and throbbed; I was rubbing it with my hand as I returned to my position on the bench. _I already have one Bunnelby, so what am I supposed to do with this little guy?_ I wondered to myself as the Bunnelby and I curled up together for a night of rest. _I guess I can ask Nurse Joy in the morning, yeah. That'll work_.


	7. Chapter 7 - Quacking It Up

Authors Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who posts reviews and follows me and my story! I'll keep trying to bring you the best I can - I'm keeping to my promise of one chapter a week~ Also - the original title for this chapter was "Quacking All the Way to the Gym" but FF wouldn't let me have that long of a title, sorry guys.

Stretching out in the morning I groaned and whimpered to myself, sleeping on a bench outside was a lot more uncomfortable than I figured it would be, uncomfortable and cold. As I sat up I began wondering how long it would be until my body got used to the stiffness and pain, hopefully it would be soon. I rolled my neck back and forth, as I tried to wake myself up, as I did so I felt something rubbing up against my side. Looking over I saw that little Bunnelby I had saved last night nuzzling its head against my side and looking up at me with wide eyes.

_Whatever am I going to do with you?_ I thought as I petted the small little creatures head. _I already have one Bunnelby, but this little guy has imprinted on me_. With a slight grunt, I picked up the Bunnelby and walked out of the alley, around the corner and into the Pokémon Center. I walked up to Nurse Joy who stood at her station; I could feel the Bunnelby in my hands shaking, so I began to scratch behind its ears. With a deep sigh, I asked Nurse Joy if she had any advice to help me with my predicament.

After some thought she told me about this one man who has been seeking someone to trade with, he's been wanting a Bunnelby for a while now, but no one has taken him up on the offer he made. How perfect was this? I asked her where to find this person and she gave me his address on a folded piece of paper and told me to go look him up – so I did. But, before I left, I told Nurse Joy about the boy who had been beating the little Bunnelby in my arms – she knew instantly who it was and told me she would see that it was taken care of. _Would she just tell his parents or would the cops get involved?_ I wondered as I turned to the doorway.

However, as I left the Pokémon Center I realized I didn't know which Bunnelby I would trade with the man, there was this little one in my arms and the one I had bandaged up the other day. I bend down onto my knees, setting the new Bunnelby down in front of me and letting the other one out of its Poké Ball. I guess there was one way to figure this out – ask them. Both of them looked each other up and down before looking back at me. The newer Bunnelby jumped into my lap, started whimpering, so I turned to my first Bunnelby, and asked if it would be okay living with someone else as long as the person seemed to be a good person. My first Bunnelby nodded happily, I figured that it was anxious to get out of its Poké Ball and see some action – I guess it figured it might experience that action with this new person.

Recalling my first Bunnelby into its Poké Ball and pulling out a new Poké Ball for this new Bunnelby I made sure to attach them to separate sides of my belt. Then, standing back up, I looked at the folded piece of paper in my hand with this man's address written hastily on it. Walking down the residential area of town just as I had yesterday, except this time I knew where I was going. I finally found his address and stopped at the door when a thought occurred to me, _did this make me a bad Trainer? Just trading my Pokémon away like this._ I shook the thought out of my head – I couldn't have second thoughts over ever decision I made, I knocked on the door – timidly at first, then with more confidence.

A little girl answered the door and I asked her if she was the one looking to trade to get a Bunnelby, she shook her head and giggled. She skipped off leaving me at the open door without a word; I was left standing there, stunned and confused. After a few moments of me standing there like an idiot, not knowing how to react, a large hiker like man appeared at the door and invited me in, apologizing for the girl who hid behind him smiling and giggling.

The large man motioned for me to sit down and offered me a drink – which I politely declined. He inquired if I was the one interested in a trade, which I was. "If we trade Pokémon," He laughed in a deep hardy voice, "you and I will become acquaintances! So how about it? Why don't you trade a Bunnelby for my Farfetch'd?" He asked with shinning eyes. I nodded and pulled out my Poké Ball – this man seemed to be well enough, kind and well, interesting. If the little girl was any indication of his abilities, I figured he was going to be a good trainer. Him and I, followed by the little girl who I found out was his daughter, headed out to the Pokémon Center where we could use the trading machine they kept in the back room.

Once he and I placed out Poké Balls in the machine and traded Pokémon we both let our new Pokémon out of their Poké Balls to examine our new Pokémon – the trader informed me that my new Farfetch'd was nicknamed Quacklin', which was an interesting name. "Beautiful!" The man exclaimed, "So this is your Bunnelby… I will take great care of it!" The two of us thanked each other and laughed as we parted ways, so now I had a Farfetch'd. Pulling out my PokéDex I scanned the small bird into its database and listened as the electronic voice came to life once again. "Farfetch'd, the wild duck Pokémon. Lives where reedy plants grow. The sprig of green onions it holds is its weapons. It is used much like a metal sword."

With a large smile on my face and new Pokémon at my hip, I walked back out of the Pokémon Center. I was excited to see what my new Farfetch'd could do, so I thought I would go up against the gym leader. What better way for a Pokémon to make its debut? As I was walking past the Roserade fountain I let Quacklin' out of its Poké Ball and let, it follow me, I figured since it was a traded Pokémon I needed to get to know it better.

Quacklin' marched behind me loyally making an adorable little quack like grunt every time it took a step. I smiled down at him as we headed to the gym, I had a feeling that this little guy was going to help me power through anything – yes, my team was starting to shape up nicely. Granted, I still felt a pang guilty for giving my Bunnelby away so easily, but I would come back to this town one day and check up on the hiker with my Bunnelby; I wonder if his little girl would actually talk to me then, or if it would be still just be giggles hidden behind her father's leg.

We now stood in front of the gym; it was a large building with a sign out front – impossible to miss. I recalled Quacklin' back into his Poké Ball as I took in the sight of the building, large with bland colors, based on the small windows near the ground I assumed that the place had a large basement area – I wonder how big of a basement a Gym Leader would need. I took in a deep breath of air and stepped forward, opening the door and entering the building that would house my first gym battle.

The room was large with several enlarged pictures hanging on all of the walls. There were two small pillars with little Poké Doll statues placed atop each; on the front of the pillars were plaques with names scrawled on them – the names of brave Trainers who had beaten the gym. Behind that there was a pole, at first I thought I had walked into the wrong kind of building, at least until I realized that the pole led down to the basement area, and wasn't a place for women of ill repute to dance on. Standing between the pillars was a stout man wearing a slight blue button up shirt and light brown jeans, he had a large mustache on his face – dark brown like the hair on top of his head, his eyes were narrow, but he didn't seem menacing. With a gulp for courage, I walked towards him, and started to go past him, but he stopped me.

"What's the hustle, little Crustle?" He asked, gently grabbing my arm. _What is with everyone in this town and their strange turn-of-phrase?_ I thought to myself, but allowed him to continue, "Welcome to the Santalune City Gym! So, future Champ, this'll be your first time challenging a Gym, huh?" I nodded awkwardly, I saw his face light up a little bit as I nodded, "Are you thrilled? Are you pumped? You should be! No worries here! You've got Pokémon on your side! And really, they're the ones who are gonna be doing all the battling. Am I right or am I right? Right?" Again, I nodded at his over-zealous disposition. "Jump on that pole there, and you'll be on your way to where the Gym Leader's a-waitin' for you!"

With a smile and a nod to thank him, I walked forward and touched a hand to the pole, it was cold steel, but I stopped when I heard him speak up again behind me. "Whoops! But wait! Before you go, I'm supposed to tell you something! Everybody in this Pokémon Gym uses Bug-type Pokémon. Got it?" I turned back around to him and nodded again, smiling more sincerely this time. Bug-type Pokémon were weak to flying type, which just happened to be the type I received in that trade; plus, if things got rough, I could always rely on my faithful Pidgey to rely on. I jumped on the pole and slid down to the basement.

To my surprise, the pole stopped short, thusly causing me to fall off – which startled me to say the least. I was caught by a large spider web, with me landing in the middle of it – it looked like it was going to be sticky, but it wasn't, a little cold, but not sticky. My eyes darted around the room as I tried to get my barring's; it was really dark so I couldn't make out much of anything. _Just how deep did this basement go?_ I wondered to myself as I stood up, attempting to steady myself as I attempted to stand on this spider web. Suddenly, a large and bright light came on in front of me – revealing a tented area that resembled a photo lab. Standing in the middle of this was a sandy blonde woman that wore a white tank top and brown, baggy pants – she had a camera hanging from her neck from the strap. I assumed that this woman would be Viola, the gym leader; I smiled at the non-threatening woman.

"That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge… It's fantastic! Just fantastic!" Viola exclaimed, with a boisterous laugh. "Is this your first time challenging a Gym?" She asked me, eyeing my unsteady stance up and down as I approached the platform she stood on, I nodded – her smile widened as she threw her hands in the air happily. "Fantastic! Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic!" She brought her arms down, on to her side and one landing on her camera – lifting it up beside her face with it aimed at me.

Now standing in front of her on the platform, I realized that I had never been so happy to be on a solid platform, that spider web did a number on my equilibrium. There was about 15 feet between the two of us. I pulled Quacklin's Poké Ball off of my belt and held it up, tilting my weight to one side, smiling at her. _I can't believe I am posing right now. This feels so weird._ "This'll be fantastic! Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory – I won't let anything ruin this shot!" She took the picture of me – the flash almost blinding me, once I recovered my sight and stopped seeing spots I threw the Poké Ball in the air and released my new little Quacklin' onto the battlefield. She threw her own Poké Ball revealing a Surskit.

Our two Pokémon leered at each other for a moment, moving back and forth ever so slightly. With a gentle wave of her arm, Viola offered me to make the first move, and so I did. Thinking back to my schooling I tried to remember the types of moves that a Farfetch'd could use – only one came to mind, Peck, so it looked like this might be a repetitive battle. Slightly mimicking Viola's movements I waved my left arm and commanded Quacklin' to use Peck, with diligence it followed my orders and launched at Viola's Surskit. However, Surskit was lightweight and quick moving – it was able to dodge the attack with ease. Again, again and again I commanded Quacklin' to attack using Peck, but the result was always the same. Dodging every move that Quacklin' could make, Surskit didn't seem to be slowing down at all.

I was gritting my teeth – I had to think of something that would help, to keep me from losing this battle. As I was thinking however, apparently so was Viola – it was Surskit's turn to go on the offensive. First, Surskit used Water Sport followed by Sweet Scent – coating the battle field in a light mist of water and the scent causing Quacklin' to almost appear slightly intoxicated, it's movements slowed. Secondly, Surskit followed up with Bubble, directly hitting Quacklin' coupled with a Quick Attack. The entire barrage of moves hit so quickly neither me nor Quacklin' had time to realize what had just happened much less react. Quacklin' fell onto the side and wobbly stood back up.

I could feel sweet trickling down my forehead and neck – I didn't want my first gym battle to end in defeat, I really wanted to win this. I sighed deeply as I scanned the battlefield trying to figure out some way to come out of this on top. It was then that it occurred to me, that leek stalk that was still held tightly in the wing of Farfetch'd – that would be the key to winning this battle. Commanding Farfetch'd to throw it's leek in the air towards the Surskit, it was a miss. Follow that with a Peak attack, which, finally, landed hard on Surskit – Surskit was obviously shaken up, and was taken out by the returning leek that had been thrown just minutes before. It had acted like a boomerang. Surskit was recalled back into its Poké Ball – and I couldn't help but jump up and squeak in joy, that was more nerve-wracking than I had thought it would be.

Looking back up at Viola, she smiled at me, almost a scolding look, informing me that she wasn't finished yet; she threw another Poké Ball into the air releasing a butterfly Pokémon, a Vivillon. It didn't take much thought to realize that Quacklin' was exhausted and still a little dazed from the Sweet Scent attack, therefore, I recalled Quacklin' into its Poké Ball. Now to decide my next move, my next Pokémon to call out. Remembering my schooling, I knew that Fire-type Pokémon were incredibly strong against Bug-type Pokémon – so the obvious choice was Fennekin, I threw the Poké Ball into the air and released my ace in the hole.

Fennekin appeared on the battlefield and I could see a spark of nervousness flash in Viola's eyes – she quickly covered it up though. Before I could command, Viola decided that she wasn't going to go down without one last fight, Vivillon used Gust and wasn't about to let up. Fennekin was pushed back against my leg, dragging its feet on the battle floor. Calling out to Fennekin, I commanded it to jump to the side and use a rapid fire Ember on Vivillon. However, Vivillon turned in the air and using Gust blew the Ember right back at Fennekin – landing direct hits. I needed to think quickly – direct attacks like this wasn't going to work with that gust; I could wait until Vivillon got too tired, but who had the time for that?

It was then that it occurred to me, yelling at Fennekin to get underneath Vivillon and aim its Ember straight up at it. Fennekin did as it was told and showered embers into the air knocking Vivillon to the ground; it was true that some of the embers had once again hit Fennekin, but the job was done, and the battle was over. I recalled Fennekin and sighed a sigh of relief; I almost fell to my knees in relief – all of my muscles that had been so tensed up before completely relaxed.

Viola recalled her Vivillon and smiled sincerely first at the Poké Ball in her hand and then up at me – "You and your Pokémon have shown me a whole new depth of field! Fantastic! Just fantastic!" _Just how many times can one person use the word fantastic in one conversation?_ I wondered to myself as she continued, "Young Trainer, you… No, it wasn't you alone. You and your Fennekin, your Farfetch'd have shown me a whole new depth of field! Fantastic! Just fantastic!" She said as she approached me, pulling something out of the pockets on her baggy tan pants and handing it to me. I held out my hand accepting it, only when it was in my hand did I realize that it was my new badge. It was a simple brown badge that resembled a beetle with yellow and dark markings on it, it also wasn't a flat badge like I had been expecting, it was thick and curved.

"Now then," she continued, "can you zoom in a bit to check out the tent behind me? Take the stairs that you find beyond it, and you'll be back up to then entrance faster than a flash!" Viola motioned to the tent sheet behind her with her arm as she stepped out of my way. I walked forward with my head held high, moving past the tent I saw the stairway Viola had been talking about, I followed them to the top and felt around in the darkness that consumed me to a way out. It took a while, but I found a doorknob and pushed on it until it opened, it was incredibly heavy. On the other side was where I had entered the building, I was facing the exit. After closing the door and looking around I realized that I had come out from behind one of the large photos that adorned the walls.

I started walking towards the exit, staring down at the badge in my hand, it was official – not only did I have my first badge but my status as a Trainer was definitely official. I was stopped when I heard the man from earlier speak up as I passed him. "Whoa-ho-ho! Wouldja look at that Bug Badge! Very nice, future Champ! I bet that schmancy-pants professor who gave you your first Pokémon'd be amazed to see it! After you heal up your Pokémon in the Pokémon Center, why don't cha head on up to the Pokémon Lab in Lumiose City and show it to him, huh?" He said with a deep hearty laugh.

I nodded to him and thanked him for all of his help as I left the building, he was definitely right about one thing, I needed to heal my Pokémon – I started walking towards the Pokémon Center, it wasn't hard to memorize where everything was in such a small town. I did disagree with that introducer man on one thing though, I doubt Professor Sycamore would be impressed with one badge from some measly trainer that he had picked – I had to do a lot more to impress him, I knew that much.

Once I entered the Pokémon Center I walked up to Nurse Joy who, as always, stood ready at her counter – I approached her and had her look over my Pokémon. After a while of sitting in the waiting room she came back out handing me my Pokémon – she told me that they had quite a few bandages, but they would be fine with some rest. To which she commented on how tired I looked, I must have looked pretty awful considering she offered to comp my room for the night – allowing me to sleep in the bed I had a couple nights ago. I was floored, asking her if she was sure, she reassured me that so few people use the overnight feature at Pokémon Centers that it would matter if she let me stay one more night. I thanked her immensely as she scurried off to get the key, returning and giving it to me.

I thanked her again and trekked up the stairs to the same room I had stayed in previously, I set my shoulder bag down next to the bed and took a seat upon it. I undid my belt and set it and all of my Poké Balls on the dresser and curled up on the bed. I must have been more exhausted than I thought, because I was out. What a great day this had been.


	8. Chapter 8 - Weird World

((Authors Note: Sorry this chapter is latter than normal - I've had a bit of a hectic week starting school back up! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you'd care to see the other projects I've been working on check out my DA page.))

Waking up the next morning, I stretched my arms and twisted around both left and right, cracking my back – it felt delightful. I was surprisingly well rested and refreshed compared to previous mornings, especially yesterday morning – having slept on a street bench. I realized as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed that I learned something, I really, immensely hated sleeping on street benches. For future nights spent in the cities, I would have to come up with some place better to sleep. However, as I stood up, a thought occurred to me, _I wonder if the cops would ever stop me from sleeping outside._ I had heard stories about Trainers being picked up off of the street for sleeping in public like I had – according to the tales it made the cities look bad, so some of the lower level cops would pick them up to raise their creditability in the force.

I grabbed my belt off the top of the dresser and re-fastened it around my waist, it was a buckle-belt, I attached all of my Poké Balls to it. Hefting my bag onto my shoulder I wandered down the stairs of the Pokémon Center, taking the steps two at a time – despite the worrisome cop-related thoughts I had awoken to, I was in quite the pleasant mood. As I walked down the stairs and towards the door, I admired the Bug Badge I had in my Trainer Case, it had finally happened. Yesterday I had gotten my first badge, who knew what today had in store for me.

Rounding the corner outside of the Pokémon Center I stopped at the bench next to the Roserade Fountain – which was becoming quite the familiar site. I stopped to check my barring's and my Town Map, quite the handy little device. Scanning over the lines that divided towns and made up the routes, I saw the route I needed to take – Lumiose City was next. Out of pure curiosity, I enlarged the image of Lumiose City on the map, I was awed by the immense size of the city – the description stated: "A dazzling metropolis of art and artifice, located in the very heart of the Kalos region." I was dually impressed, now it was time to see if it lived up to its reputation.

Stuffing the Town Map back into the outer pocket of my shoulder bag I continued on, almost skipping I was in such a good mood. My mood changed ever so slightly as I headed towards the edge of town and saw the woman from the other day who seemed to know me, despite having never met her, sitting on a bench reading a magazine. She sat between me and the route out of town, I began to panic internally – what if she approached me again? I really didn't want to go thorugh another confrontation.

Nervously I walked on towards Route 4, moving slowly and cautiously as to not garner too much attention and noise so she wouldn't look up from her magazine. But alas, I was not successful, she glanced up from her magazine and bolted over to me. Without even waiting for me to say anything to acknowledge her, she started talking – rather rapidly at that.

"Would you look at that! You got a Bug Badge!" She stated cheerfully, but I could help but wonder how on earth she knew that – my badge was in my trainer case in my bag. "Looks like I might have a new scoop. To beat Viola at your young age… You really are something, aren't you? Oh, Sorry, I never did introduce myself, did I?" She rambled; I shook my head to say that no she hadn't – which explained my perplexed expression on my face. "I'm Alexa. The Gym Leader you just faced, Viola, is my younger sister. I work as a journalist myself." That explained so much, I nodded a little less nervous than I had been. "I work at the big publishing house up in Lumiose City. Feel free to stop by anytime if you have the next big scoop to share with me!" I nodded again and told her that I was heading that way anyway and would be sure to visit her; I waved as she walked off down the road and left the town towards Lumiose City.

What I didn't tell her though, was that I was lying. She had sufficiently disturbed me enough to make me never want to talk to her again, so I had no intension of visiting her office. Granted, if something important came up or if I fulfilled my dream of becoming a champion I'm sure I'd have to deal with the media at some time – but hopefully _never_ her, I was too bothered by her. Something about her gave me a bad feeling, I didn't like her – but I couldn't place what exactly.

I lingered in the promenade area for a little while, sitting down on the bench that Alexa had been sitting at. I wanted to make sure that there was enough distance between her and me. It wasn't the most interesting way to pass my time, but Alexa had left the magazine she had been reading behind, so that gave me at least a little bit of entertainment. On the title page of the magazine it was blatantly obvious that the magazine was from her news company – her name was plastered everywhere in it. Trying to pass the time, I skimmed through the articles – none of them I would really consider news worthy, but there was one lengthy one on Professor Sycamore.

It was more of a rumor article than anything, there were rumors of him having a secret girlfriend, one he refused to comment upon. The article went into depth about the various possibilities of who this secret girlfriend might be. This was the only article I read at any length, and that was only to make sure my mother's name wasn't implicated in the story – it wasn't. I was reminded of the letter I had peered at before delivering it to my mother and I shuttered.

Standing up quickly, I dropped the magazine back onto the bench and walked on to Route 4 at a rather rapid pace. The memory of the filthy letter that I had to hand deliver was more than I cared to deal with at the moment. Instead, I focused my energy on taking in the scenery around me; Route 4 was interesting to look at to say the least. On either side of me were mazes of hedges that came to about my bust line, I could see that there were fields of flowers around the hedges that flowed into the mazes.

I could see a couple young children running in and out of the mazes, trying to either find their way to the end or playing some kind of game – the answer to which I couldn't tell. Walking to my left, I slowly entered the maze, careful not to damage the flowers that surrounded my feet – they were a light yellow in color. Looking from side to side, down different alleyways in the maze, I ran into an old man that was bent down in front of me. I stumbled backwards; it took me a moment to regain my balance.

Looking up at the man before me with intent to apologize I was faced with an elderly man who, despite his age, loomed over me with sharp gardening utensils in each hand. "I'm warnin' ya, youngster-" he growled at me, "My Corphish here has some sharp pincers!" He took a few steps back and threw his Corphish's Poké Ball into the air with a bright red flash. _Well,_ I thought to myself, there was no use denying his challenge – _I guess doing this will be my way of apologizing, I guess_.

Throwing my own Poké Ball into the air, I tried to look elegant to counteract the clumsiness of earlier – even though I knew I failed. Before me, my Pikachu became visible – the sad part was my fat little Pikachu appeared more elegant than I could ever hope to be.

The battle wasn't as difficult as the old man – whose name I learned was Wheaton – had made it sound. He had warned me that Corphish's pincers were sharp – and there was no denying that they did effective damage every time they landed hits, but it didn't last nearly as long as I had thought it would. A Water-type and an Electric-type made for very effective hits from my Pikachu.

By the end of the battle Pikachu was limping back to the ground at my feet, Corphish was passed out in the flowers between Gardener Wheaton, and myself, he recalled his Pokémon. Seeming almost dismissive of the end result, he laughed as he said, "Ohhh! You cut us right down to size!" The two of us laughed together for almost a full five minutes over such a simple little pun.

The two of us continued to have a conversation after our laughter had subsided, and it wasn't long before he confided in me that he used to be a big hit on television. He said he had been on some of the more popular radio and television Pokémon Dramas. When he told me this I stared at him for a good long while before it hit me – I grew up on reruns of his shows! I couldn't help but ask for his autograph – which he happily provided on a spare piece of paper I found floating around in my shoulder bag. There were no words for how happy I was at that moment, and that happiness grew tenfold when I noticed that he had placed his e-mail on the paper as well.

Departing, I promised him to send him an e-mail regaling my adventures, so that he could keep his memories of the big screen alive. Every trainer who was issued a PokéDex was given apps and free access to the internet at all times – so they could keep in touch with various professors. It didn't always work in caves and the like, but other than that, it was pretty reliable. Exiting the maze through one of the side exits, I entered back on the main pathway of the route and followed it down towards Lumiose City. I knew that I needed to heal my poor little Pikachu, but that would have to wait until I got to the next town, I couldn't afford to back track every single time I had a setback. About a mile down the route, I came to a short flight of stairs that lead down to another fountain with two skaters gliding around the fountain. This area definitely liked fountains and skaters apparently.

This fountain wasn't nearly as awe-inspiring as the Roserade one in town, but it was still pleasant to look at, and the mist from the wind felt refreshing on my skin. When I was sure that I wouldn't be run down by either skater, due to them being on the other side of the fountain, I walked up to it and read the inscription: "Perle Fountain – Acceptance creates harmony." I smiled as I ran my fingers along the raised words; it was a very true statement.

As the two skaters passed me again I heard them holding a conversation – speaking each time they passed by each other. "I love Pokémon battles, but they'd be even better if I didn't have to stop skating!" The girl said, and on the next pass the boy replied, "I battle just like I skate! Nonstop victory is the only way for me!"

After watching them for a little bit, I decided to go ahead and try skating out for myself, since it seemed so popular, I figured why not. I sat down on the edge of the fountain, snapped the skates onto my shoes, and unsteadily stood up. Awkwardly I skated forward and around the fountain a couple times, after I got a handle on basic skating I kept them on as I moved on down the pathway – that is until I found the stairs. The hard way. As soon as the skates hit the stairs, I toppled forward, bashing my chin on the ground. Sitting up onto my knees I whimpered as I rubbed my chin; looking at my hand, there was blood. I'd really done it this time, ever since I was young I was clumsy, but now I've gone and made myself bleed. Granted this wasn't the first time I'd done something like this, but what a way to spend my journey. I wobbly stood up on the skates, still whimpering, and slowly glided forward, taking it slightly more cautiously this time around.

Up ahead there was a lady wearing an outfit, similar to full length footie pajamas with ears on the hood. She skipped over to me with an ecstatic bounce in her step, "I love my Pokémon. I love my Pokémon." She sang as she took my hand in hers, throwing off my balance ever so slightly. I nodded at her as she danced around me; I guess she was just thoroughly excited about life. So after a few moments, I continued on leaving her behind me, still dancing.

I had never considered my youth to be a sheltered one, but I kept finding myself surrounded by people who just confused me, I just couldn't wrap my head around some of these people. The obsession with skates the people running up to you do sing, dance or do something similar to others they've never met before. What baffled me even more is what I saw next.

Continuing on down the pathway I was challenged to a battle by a little preschooler, at first, I was appalled that someone would let their child out alone at such a young age. That fact was quickly stricken from my mind when the little kid opened his mouth – "Check it out! I just traded for a cool new Pokémon!" I nodded at him – I guess there was no harm in battling the kid since he had his own Pokémon. Throwing the Poké Ball into the air the kid summoned his new Pokémon, a Magikarp.

I didn't have the heart to battle this flopping fish – not when it was a little kid who owned it. I walked over to him, taking his Poké Ball, recalled his Pokémon, and handed it back to him. Bending down I told him to find whoever gave him the Magikarp and considering getting your Pokémon back – he'd been ripped off. Magikarp are wonderful Pokémon, once they've ether been trained for years or have evolved, neither of which this Magikarp was. I told him that it wasn't likely for him to win any battles with only that low level Pokémon. The little kid looked upset and sniffled a little bit – I offered to help him look up the people who had ripped him off, but he said no and ran off towards town, to his parents I assumed.

Shaking my head I moved on, what an appalling thought, someone ripping someone so young off – and taking their Pokémon. I guess that is just the world we live in now. It took a while, but I had finally reached the end of the route. At the end of the route there were two people standing at the gate entrance, they wore white and tan outfits, one male and one female. The man spoke up first when I approached the gate.

"Hello there!" He said ecstatically, "Have you ever heard of a Pokémon called Flabébé?" I thought for a moment and looked it up in my PokéDex – I hadn't captured one yet, but I knew I had seen some floating around the route, I turned the PokéDex to make sure I was looking at the right Pokémon – he nodded at me. "Oh, I see it is registered in your PokéDex. That's what I would expect from one of the professor's handpicked Pokémon Trainers!" _Was there an announcement on television about me and the other picked trainers? It seems like everyone knows me!_ I thought to myself as I nodded at him calmly – it was starting to bother me that everyone around me knew who I was, when I had no idea who they were.

Now it was the girls turn to speak up, "Flabébé is – now brace yourself – a Fairy-type Pokémon!" She reminded me of Shauna, she was bouncing up and down on her feet. The man was about to speak up to expand on what she had said, but the girl simply interrupted him by saying, "This turned the entire type-matchup system on its head! And we've been battling Fairy-type Pokémon against other types of Pokémon at Professor Sycamore's request. My name's Sina! It's a beautiful name for a beautiful lady!"

Things were at least starting to make sense – these two knew who I was because they worked so closely with Professor Sycamore. Granted that last statement Sina made was a little smug of her, but whatever. The man next to her spoke up, this time without being interrupted. "I'm Dexino. Two years ago, Professor Sycamore entrusted me with a PokéDex. You could call me a Pokémon-voyage veteran." _I don't know about a veteran after only two years…_ I thought to myself as I looked between the two of them.

"If you'd like, I'll show you the way to the lab. So, come along now!" Sina offered extending a hand to me, I nodded to her. "Okay, let's get this show on the road!" She said as both her and Dexino spun around towards the gate that lead into Lumiose City, with a deep sigh, I followed them.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Man Himself

((Authors Note: I am SO sorry this one is late as well. I won't be keeping up the one chapter a week thing while in school. I see this now, I will try to get caught up, but I am making no gauntness. I thank everyone who read this though, and who leaves reviews. And thank you all for your patience. Feel free to message me if you want. ^^;))

Exiting the gate into Lumiose City, it seemed as though it all hit me at once – this place was huge. Standing just outside of the gate, it felt that the buildings, street, and well, everything dwarfed me – I felt so small standing there. The majority of the buildings were at least five stories tall, looming around me. I stepped forward into the center of where the streets met and looked down each side of the road, both sides curved until I couldn't see down them anymore – I could only imagine that they went on forever, despite how implausible that was. To my right, just down the street a little bit, there was a construction worker standing between a couple signposts – he looked extremely bored. In front of me there was a blue taxi parked on the side of the street waiting for someone to pick up. To my left there were rows of buildings that aligned the sides of the road, with trees that were in the middle of the street.

From behind me, Sina and Dexino came through the gate and stood on either side of me – about two feet away. "I'll go ahead and wait by the lab for you." Sina offered happily, as she spun around and headed to the left down the road.

"Follow her that way to the lab!" Dexino stated, I looked where Sina had wandered off and began to follow her down the street. There were so many people crowded on the roads and coming in and out of the buildings that I didn't see if Dexino was following as well or if it was just me and Sina now, but I kept walking on – occasionally bumping into people.

About a block down the road, I found Sina standing in front of a building that wasn't at all like the rest of the city was. Most of the city I had seen so far had large buildings that were dark in color and seemed almost uninviting, but this one looked about three stories high and had bright colors. There were two fairly large pillars with Poké Ball statues on them. There were green plants and bushes surrounding the building – there was even a small green yard, it seemed like there were no yards in the city – it was all industrial, except this yard. From what I had read when I was setting up my Poké Dex, there was also a large area behind this building where Professor Sycamore took care of the trainers Pokémon.

"This building is the Sycamore Pokémon Lab! Let's go inside." Sina said once I was standing beside her, the two of us walked inside the building. It was large inside the building, the walls were white and there was a brown desk on the left side of the room with a receptionist standing behind it, on the right there were couches surrounding a television that was turned to the news channel, and directly in front of me was a small elevator. "You've traveled a long way from Vaniville Town, but you're finally here! The professor can't wait to meet you. You can find him on the third floor, so hop in the elevator!" Sina instructed me, and I absentmindedly obeyed – I entered the elevator and pushed the button to head to the third floor.

Once on the third floor, I stepped out of the elevator and gripped the strap of my shoulder bag as I looked around the large room. To my right there was a large wall dividing the room, with a gulp I walked around it and found myself standing face to face with a suave looking man, the professor. He was tall and had an impressive way about him, and he was quite handsome as well. I stopped short when I saw him and could, finally, understand why my mother had been sending and receiving secret letters from him - he was quite unique in his own way. He held up his hands invitingly as he began to speak.

"So, we finally meet! Fantastic! You're here! Many thanks for coming all the way from Vaniville Town! I am Professor Sycamore! It's a pleasure to finally meet you! How is your Pokémon journey going so far? Have you met many different Pokémon?" He asked this as he motioned towards my belt, and the Poké Balls that rested upon it. I smiled at him and all I could do was nod - I had no idea what to say to this man. "Fantastic!" He continued after realizing that I wasn't going to say anything. "Let me have a quick look at your Poké Dex and see!" I obediently handed it to him, almost absentmindedly. "Hmm... So you've seen quite a lot of Pokémon in Central Kalos then." He paused, squinting his eyes at my Poké Dex for a moment before handing it back to me, in doing so, his body language brightened once again. "Oh ho! The pages are getting filled in. It's starting to look good! Well now, you DO have a certain je ne sais quoi! I have a good feeling about you!" He laughed as he looked me up and down - I could only image what I looked like at the time, covered and dirt, lacking sleep, and all together not put together. I actually felt a little bit embarrassed - only a little bit however.

He started talking again, with a large and bright smile upon his face that changed rapidly as he spoke - "At first, I was thinking of choosing only one child from a town when I was deciding who to give a Pokémon to. In Vaniville Town, it was going to be the child of a Veteran Trainer I know. About then, I learned that the Rhyhorn racer Grace and her daughter were moving here." He paused, for what I could only assume was dramatic effect before continuing to tell me my own life story, I couldn't help but giggle to myself. "Here in the Kalos region, you're far away from everything you used to know.. That really hit me right here..." He pressed his hand against his chest and placed the other one over his eyes. He almost looked like a beaten Lillipup - I almost wanted to hug him, but he suddenly perked up again. "Then it hit me - I should give you a Pokémon and have you travel around Kalos!"

Now, I was all for the sappy back story that he was giving me, and I couldn't deny that the Kalos region was far different from anything that I have ever known. Especially considering I came from the Kanto region, which was a lot smaller and poorer of an area than this place, but I wouldn't consider my story be that dramatic of one so far. I had a feeling that this man had a flare for the overdramatic.

Before I could get too deep in my thoughts or get too deep in conversation with this, well, flamboyant professor Shauna and Calem walked into the room behind me and joined the two of us standing there. "Hi, Professor! It's Shauna." She announced cheerfully as she took his hand and shook it fervently.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." Calem muttered as he bowed to the professor ever so slightly. He seemed incredibly formal - almost as if intimidated by the professor.

"Fantastic! Now, let's have a Pokémon battle!" Professor Sycamore exclaimed as he turned back to me after nodding to Shauna and Calem. "You're opponent shall be me!" To say that I was intimidated would be an outright lie; I felt my knees and lower lip quiver ever so slightly. I was just starting out on my Pokémon journey and I was already expected to battle a gym leader! That couldn't be normal. He held up a Poké Ball and gave me an almost sinful smile as he said, "Shall we start the battle? Just so you know, I'm not that tough!"

Shauna, Calem and I stepped back a few feet as he let a small little Bulbasaur out of its Poké Ball between us - both the Bulbasaur and Professor Sycamore looked up at me expectantly. So, with a deep gulp I let out a sigh and released my Fennekin to battle - I at least figured a fire type would have an advantage against his grass type. He was right though, he wasn't very tough, a couple hits with Fennekin's Ember attack and Bulbasaur fell to the ground and the professor recalled it. I felt a lot more confident in my abilities at this point. But the professor reassured me that he wasn't out yet. Next came a Charmander. I figured that Fennekin's attacks wouldn't do too much damage, but since I didn't have any water Pokémon to rely on to take the Charmander out, so I stayed with Fennekin - calling out the physical attacks like tackle and scratch. Again it didn't take nearly as long or as much effort as it should have to defeat a professor. Finally, the professor sent out a Squirtle - that was when it fully dawned on me – he was using my dream starters, the ones I was supposed to receive, the Kanto starters. With a sudden huff, I recalled Fennekin and sent out Quacklin' and ended this battle quickly. Using its leak to repeatedly hit the Squirtle, who was not able to dodge very quickly, until the battle was finally over.

Professor Sycamore began to laugh boisterously as he lowered his head and raised his hands in the air. "Ha ha! You're too much for me! You're really something, aren't you? I think I've about figured it out!" He stated a little mysteriously.

Shauna tilted her head to the side as she looked at the professor with wonderment in her eyes, "Figured what out?" She asked him.

The professor held out a finger to her indicating that he was about to explain just that. "Allona! You are an interesting Pokémon Trainer indeed! It'd be fantastic if you took another Pokémon with you! Here pick one!" Holding out the three Poké Balls he had just used he offered me one of the Kanto region starters. I couldn't help but feel astonished – I was going to receive what I've always wanted. But the question presented itself – I had always wanted to start my journey with a Charmander, but I already had a fire type starter.

Figuring it was best to cover my weaknesses I decided to go with Squirtle – since my current starter was a fire type and all. I sighed deeply and took the Poké Ball for Squirtle. I was determined, then and there to eventually own them all. I would become a master, no matter how difficult – I would have to settle for now. Asking me which Pokémon I would like for him to watch at the research center I handed him – after even more deliberation – my Caterpie. I hadn't used Caterpie that much so far, and I could always have it transferred back to me.

"Since you chose Squirtle, I'll give you this Mega Stone." Professor Sycamore added as he handed me the mega stone for Blastoise. Once again he turned to Shawna and Calem, holding out his two other Pokémon." He stated with a gentle, inviting voice.

I watched the two of them contemplate their decision; Shawna was bouncing up and down on as she leaned forward to look at the Poké Balls. I was beginning to expect this kind of reaction from her – moving her entire body, wiggling in excitement every time a new interesting or important event took place I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "I don't know which one to pick! It's so difficult!" She squealed as she pointed back and forth between the two Poké Balls.

Calem was the complete opposite though, leaning forward in unison with Shawna to examine the decision better, he stayed aloof and quiet for the most part, nervously clutching at his shoulder strap like he always seemed to do. "You'll be together for a long time, so just take your time." He stated somewhat absentmindedly, it was clear that even though he already knew which one he wanted, he would be satisfied with whatever he received. There was potential in every Pokémon, just like in humans – there is a fire in all souls that needs to be nourished and not doused.

As if to hurry her decision a little bit, Professor Sycamore softly stated "Well, I've got a feeling everyone else will show up soon." At his insistence, Shawna quickly reached out and made her decision, snatching one of the Poké Balls from the professor's hand, Calem taking the other. I couldn't see which Pokémon either of them had chosen, I wasn't close enough and I hadn't been paying close enough attention to know which Poké Ball had which Pokémon in it – I mean it wasn't like these were labeled or anything. Almost as if on cue, however, Tierno and Trever walked into the room right after the decisions and been made, Professor Sycamore had called it.

"Hi, Professor Sycamore." Tierno said in his boisterous deep voice as he waddled to the other side of the room, Trever shuffling to stand between Tierno and I. Tierno stood with a laid-back attitude while Trevor looked so nervous as he looked around the room, as though standing in front of the professor was one of the most intimidating times of this life.

"What's this? Everyone is already here." Trevor muttered kind of surprised – I could see in his eyes that he felt slightly guilty for being one of the last ones to arrive.

With a reassuring laugh, Professor Sycamore held out his arms invitingly as he began to speak once again. "See. Wonderful! Everyone's all here!" He clapped his hands together, "So, now that we're all here, I'd like to say a few words." He drew in a deep breath, "Be the best Trainer you can be! At the same time, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokémon! Also, I want to ask for your help in solving the Kalos region's biggest Pokémon Mystery: the secret and potential of Mega Evolution," he paused for dramatic effect, "a new kind of Evolution that occurs in battle! That's why I gave you that Mega Stone just now. It's an important clue!"

Trevor took a step forward and held up a nervous and shaky hand, "Mega Evolution?" He asked, "What should we do about the Poké Dex?" Watching him I could see him blinking wildly as he tried to comprehend this new concept.

"Trevor, my lad," Professor Sycamore laughed whole-heartedly, "if that's what best Trainer means to you, then I want you to go out there and complete that Poké Dex!" As he spoke, Professor Sycamore clapped his hand on Trevor's shoulder.

It was Shauna's turn to step forward now, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Mega Evolution sounds really interesting!" She chirped.

Spinning in a fashion that was becoming all too familiar, Professor Sycamore turned to Shauna and smiled deeply. "If you're investigating Mega Evolution, why don't you check out Camphrier Town?" He suggested as he went on to explain, "That town has a lot of history – you might find a hint there! If you visit many different places to complete the Poké Dex, you will probably see Pokémon with many ways of living and meet people with many ways of thinking. First, accept the ways of living and thinking that sometimes conflict with your own. And think about what's really important – this will truly broaden your horizons."

I looked on at the professor with wide eyes, despite the fact that he seemed to be quite flamboyant and a bit of a space cadet, he was coming across as incredibly wise. What was most surprising about his wisdom was the fact he still looked so young. But, once again, my thought process was suddenly interrupted – moving from one inspiring figure to another, Calem. I barely new any of these people, but several of them mesmerized me so.

"I feel that being different from others makes me special." Calem said, quietly at first then with more confidence, "Mastering Mega Evolution will definitely set me apart from other Trainers!"

With that, we all departed from each other's company, everyone going off in their own direction. I stood there for a moment before heading to the elevator and pressing the down button rather absentmindedly. I had so much to think about, so much to do, and so much ahead of me.


End file.
